Natale a Casale Monferrato

Why it's special

Casale has no single Christmas festival. December is a run of things in the old centre: the comune's Christmas fair with about fifty stalls in Piazza Castello, the historic shops' markets along the arcaded streets, the lights switched on in Piazza Mazzini, the open-monuments weekend, and a Christmas concert or two at the Teatro Municipale, one of Piedmont's finest old theatres.

Programme · 2026

Confirmed dates so far; the comune usually announces its lights, ice rink and children's programme in late November.

• The Fiera di Dicembre fills Piazza Castello from 7:00 to 19:00 on the Sundays before Christmas.
• It also runs on 8 December, except in years when the 8th falls on a Tuesday or Friday and the regular market takes the square, as in 2026.
• The Botteghe Storiche markets are in the streets of the centre (info: Laura, +39 339 289 6126).
• In 2026 the Tuesday and Friday market moves to Thursday 24 and Thursday 31 December, because the 25th and the 1st fall on Fridays.
• Combine a December Sunday with the antiques market at the Mercato Pavia (second Sunday) and the open monuments of Casale Città Aperta that same weekend.
• Concert and theatre tickets are sold through the Teatro Municipale.

Casale doesn't hold one big Christmas festival. December in Casale Monferrato is a string of smaller things in the old centre, most of them on Sundays.

The main one is the Fiera di Dicembre, the comune's Christmas fair, with around fifty stalls of food, gifts and household goods in Piazza Castello, under the walls of the Castello del Monferrato. It runs on the Sundays before Christmas, and on 8 December when the date doesn't clash with the regular market. On the same days the association of Casale's historic shops, the Botteghe Storiche, sets up its own Christmas market in the streets of the centre.

The comune switches on the Christmas lights in Piazza Mazzini, the arcaded square at the heart of the town, usually on a Saturday in early December, and in past years an ice rink has stood in Piazza Castello in front of the Teatro Municipale until mid-January. The theatre itself puts on Christmas and New Year concerts within its winter season. On the antiques-market weekend in December the monuments open for Casale Città Aperta, with free guided walks from Piazza Castello.

To round off the season there's the Capodanno concert in the Duomo on 1 January. The comune's full Christmas programme usually comes out in late November; the fair and market dates above are already fixed.