Acquinbanda & Festa dell'Uva — Acqui Terme

Why it's special

A properly local end-of-harvest party — the town's own Corpo Bandistico Acquese and visiting bands march through the streets, the piazzas fill with Monferrato dishes and local wine, and the Sunday ends with the gara di pigiatura, a cheerfully competitive take on the old grape-treading ritual.

Programme · 2026

• Free, in the town centre.
• Band parades start late afternoon Saturday and mid-morning Sunday; the food and wine stands (Gusti e Sapori del Monferrato, run by AcquiEventi) open from early evening Saturday and lunchtime Sunday.
• To enter the grape-stomping contest, sign up by phone in advance (+39 349 216 0276, per the 2026 poster).

Every September Acqui Terme marks the end of the harvest with a weekend of brass, food and grapes underfoot. Acquinbanda brings marching bands into the town centre: visiting groups and the town's own Corpo Bandistico Acquese parade on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, then play concerts through Sunday afternoon. Around them, the Gusti e Sapori del Monferrato stands serve local dishes and wine, and DJ sets run into Saturday night.

The finale is the gara di pigiatura, a grape-stomping contest that grew out of the Festa dell'Uva's tongue-in-cheek re-staging of the old treading ritual. Teams sign up in advance; everyone else crowds round to watch.

It's free and in the centre, so it pairs easily with a wander round the Bollente and the old town. Earlier in September, the same piazzas host the Festa delle Feste.