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 · 2025
Second edition, in Piazza Dante, by the Comune, the Pro Loco di Calamandrana and 'Le colline della cultura'. Craft and local-produce stalls both days, with farinata non-stop.
- It's centred on Piazza Dante, with the library (in Calamandrana's former railway station) hosting the presepe.
- Come for the afternoon children's activities (cookie decorating in 2024; face painting, a magic show and letters to Father Christmas in 2025), then stay for farinata and a glass of local Barbera.
- The Pro Loco hands out hot chocolate around 16:00.
- 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.
It's a young event still finding its rhythm: the first two editions ran over a mid-December weekend, and the second added carriage rides with Father Christmas, a magic show and a Sunday lunch of raviole. Confirm the current programme with the Comune di Calamandrana or the local Pro Loco before you travel. We add each year's dates as they're published; past editions are listed above.
More events in Monferrato in December 2025 →
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Past editions
| Year | Dates | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13–14 December 2025 | Second edition, in Piazza Dante, by the Comune, the Pro Loco di Calamandrana and 'Le colline della cultura'. Craft and local-produce stalls both days, with farinata non-stop. Sat 13 Dec, 10:30–12:00 – carriage ride with Father Christmas and the elves' magic balloons Sat 13 Dec, 11:30 – aperitivo offered by the Milano and Paolino butchers of Calamandrana Sat 13 Dec, 14:00–15:00 – face painting with Father Christmas's elves Sat 13 Dec, 15:00–16:00 – magic show Sat 13 Dec, 16:00 – hot chocolate from the Pro Loco Sun 14 Dec, 10:30–12:00 – carriage ride with Father Christmas and elf face painting Sun 14 Dec, 12:00 – lunch with Father Christmas: raviole, and ceci e costine Sun 14 Dec, 14:00–16:00 – elves' workshop and letter-writing to Father Christmas Sun 14 Dec, 16:00 – hot chocolate from the Pro Loco |
| 2024 | 14–15 December 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) Local-food tastings — farinata, salumi and cheese, ravioli, pasta e fagioli, beer and wine At the library: the large crocheted Monferrino nativity ('presepe all'uncinetto') by Maura Rosa, made from recycled wool |