Fiera del Rapulé

Why it's special

The crotin are cellars dug into the tufa under most of the houses in Calosso's historic centre, and for three days their owners open them, along with their courtyards, to a route of about twenty food and wine stops. Each stop is run by a Pro Loco, a village association or a local restaurant and pours the wine of a Calosso producer, from Barbera and Moscato to the rare Calosso DOC made from the Gamba di Pernice grape. On the Sunday afternoon the late bunches that give the fair its name are crushed the old way.

Programme · 2026

26th edition. Free entry on all three days, with no booking or Saturday ticket. 21 stops on the route, among them crotin, courtyards, the Palazzo del Teatro, Piazza del Fossato and Piazza del Castello.

• The old centre is closed to cars.
• Park at Piana del Salto or by the church of San Bovo and take the shuttle bus up (in 2026 it ran every 15 minutes and cost €1 return; last ride up at 21:30 on Friday and Saturday and 15:00 on Sunday).
• Food and wine are paid for only in crotin tokens (1 crotin = €1), sold at the cash desks in Piazza Sant'Alessandro and Piazza Umberto I.
• Only the current year's crotin are accepted, and the enoteca at the end of the route, which sells bottles of the wines you've tasted, is the one stop that takes euros.
• You'll need the tasting pouch and glass (€5 in 2026).
• Glass bottles can't be carried onto the route.
• Saturday is the busiest night: in 2023–2025 it was ticket-only (€25 in 2023 and 2025, booked online from 1 October, with glass, pouch and 20 crotin included), while in 2026 it was free with no booking, so check fieradelrapule.it in early October.
• Sunday daytime, with the market and the grape crushing, is the easiest visit with children.
• The fair goes ahead in bad weather.
• Info: +39 349 8797639 or the Comune, +39 0141 853126.

The Rapulé takes its name from the rapulin 'd San Martin, the small late bunches left on the vines after the harvest and gathered around St Martin's day in November. The fair started more than 25 years ago, when a group of Calosso residents wanted a different way to show off their village. The tokens you pay with, the crotin, were introduced with the first edition in 2000. The Comune now runs it with the producers of the Associazione Crota 'd Calos, the Pro Loco and the village's other associations.

Most of the houses in Calosso's historic centre sit on crotin, cellars cut into the tufa. On the third weekend of October, with most of the harvest in, the owners open them and their courtyards, and the village becomes one long walk of about twenty stops. You go up and down lanes and stairways from Piazza Sant'Alessandro to Piazza del Castello under the castle. Each stop has a dish or two and a local wine. Pro Loco groups from Calosso and nearby villages cook, alongside the Alpini, local restaurants and other associations. Expect trippa, acciughe al verde, plin, vitello tonnato, polenta and the Gran Finanziera di Calosso, a rich old Piedmontese dish of offal and sweetbreads, then zabaione al Moscato or hazelnut cake to finish. The wines come from the village's producers: Barbera, Moscato d'Asti, Nebbiolo, and the red Calosso DOC made from the Gamba di Pernice grape, which grows almost nowhere else. At the end of the route an enoteca sells bottles of what you've tasted.

Between the stops there are art exhibitions in the cellars and old houses, sacred vestments and crucifixes on show in the Baroque parish church of San Martino, bands and DJs in the squares, flag-wavers and historical groups. Friday and Saturday are evening events that run until midnight, and Saturday is the busiest night. Sunday runs from late morning, with a market along the streets and, in the afternoon, the old-style crushing of the rapulin.

Cars can't get into the old centre during the fair. Leave the car at Piana del Salto or San Bovo and take the shuttle up. See what else there is to do in Calosso.