Mercatino di Natale di Calamandrana
A village Christmas market in Piazza Dante, launched in 2024 by the Comune, the Pro Loco, the library and the 'Le colline della cultura' association — craft and gift stalls, local-food tastings and children's activities in the centre of Calamandrana.
Why it's special
A warm, home-grown festa rather than a tourist market: carriage rides with an elf, cookie-decorating workshops, carol singing and hot chocolate, paired with the town's much-loved crocheted Monferrino nativity in the old-station library.
Programme · 2024
Inaugural edition of the market in Piazza Dante, run by the Comune, Pro Loco, biblioteca and 'Le colline della cultura'. Gift and craft stalls plus children's games across the square Carriage rides with an elf, carol singing and hot chocolate Cookie-decorating laboratories both afternoons (roughly 14:00–15:00)
- It's centred on Piazza Dante, with the library (in Calamandrana's former railway station) hosting the presepe.
- Come for the afternoon children's laboratories — the 2024 cookie-decorating workshops ran roughly 14:00–15:00 on both days — and stay for farinata, salumi and a glass of local Barbera.
- As a young event the dates move each year, so confirm them with the Comune or the Pro Loco before travelling.
Calamandrana's Christmas market is a young village festa, first held in December 2024, when the Comune, the Pro Loco, the biblioteca and the 'Le colline della cultura' association filled central Piazza Dante with stalls for the first time. It's a home-grown affair rather than a tourist market: gift and craft stands, children's games, carriage rides with an elf, carol singing and hot chocolate, and a spread of local food — farinata, salumi and cheese, ravioli, pasta e fagioli, beer and wine from the Calamandrana hills.
The market pairs with one of the town's proudest Christmas traditions: a large crocheted Monferrino nativity — the 'presepe all'uncinetto' — made by Maura Rosa from recycled wool and shown in the library, which occupies Calamandrana's former railway station. Spanning more than five square metres, it recreates the Monferrato tale of the shepherd Gelindo with dozens of figures modelled on real townspeople.
Because it's a new event still finding its rhythm, no future date is fixed here yet — the 2024 edition ran on 14–15 December. Confirm the current programme with the Comune di Calamandrana or the local Pro Loco before you travel, and we'll add each year's dates as they're published.