Il Natale passa da AcQui
Acqui Terme's Christmas season: nearly two months of festive lights, market stalls and shopping across Piazza Italia and the centre, with an ice rink, Father Christmas's house and the Pro Loco's big international nativity exhibition.
Why it's special
The town wraps the whole centre in lights from late November into January, and the season's centrepiece is the Mostra Internazionale del Presepio — over 200 nativity scenes from around the world, an exhibition now decades old, shown at the Movicentro.
Programme · 2024
Festive lights and decorations across Piazza Italia and the historic centre, with market stalls, shopping and special events run by the Comune di Acqui Terme. Ice-skating rink and a Casetta di Babbo Natale (Father Christmas's house) in Piazza Bollente, weekends from early December to 24 December. 36ª Mostra Internazionale del Presepio — over 200 nativity scenes, at the Movicentro, 6 December to 6 January, organised by the Pro Loco di Acqui Terme.
- Bring the kids for the ice rink and the Casetta di Babbo Natale in Piazza Bollente (weekends up to Christmas).
- The Mostra Internazionale del Presepio runs at the Movicentro, roughly 6 December to 6 January — worth the visit on its own.
From late November into January, Acqui Terme turns on its Christmas season — "Il Natale passa da AcQui" — and wraps the centre in lights. Piazza Italia and the old streets fill with market stalls and shopping, there's an ice rink and a Casetta di Babbo Natale in Piazza Bollente on the run-up weekends, and the Comune lays on events through the holidays.
The centrepiece is the Pro Loco's Mostra Internazionale del Presepio — an international nativity exhibition, over 200 cribs from around the world in glass, terracotta, wrought iron and ceramic, some huge and some a few centimetres tall. Now past its 35th edition, it's shown at the Movicentro, roughly 6 December to 6 January, and is worth the trip on its own.
The 2024–25 season ran 30 November 2024 to 25 January 2025. Dates shift a little each winter — check the town's Christmas site for the current programme. See Acqui Terme for the spa town, and warm up afterwards at La Bollente.