OrtoGiardinoVino & Dispensa
A spring weekend in Motta, the pepper-growing frazione of Costigliole d'Asti: a plant and garden fair on the Sunday, with local food and wine, a Saturday dinner and dance, and a band and flag-wavers.
Why it's special
It's a village fair with its roots in the soil: nursery plants, herbs and garden tools next to the larder of a frazione famous for its Peperone Quadrato, a Slow Food Presidium. Entry is free and the Pro Loco cooks.
Programme · 2026
25th edition, organised by the Comune di Costigliole d'Asti with the Pro Loco Motta. Free entry.
- The fair is in and around the heated Palafiori marquee at the A.
- Ferretti sports ground on Via Roma, Motta.
- Come on the Sunday morning for the best choice of plants; Saturday night is the Pro Loco dinner with a dance band.
Every spring the Pro Loco of Motta, the farming frazione of Costigliole d'Asti best known for its square peppers, holds OrtoGiardinoVino & Dispensa: vegetable garden, flower garden, wine and larder in one weekend. The heart of it is the Sunday plant fair, with nursery stalls of garden and house plants, hardy and collectors' varieties, herbs and tools, alongside local food, wine and crafts.
The Saturday belongs to the village. The nursery and primary school children put on a show in the afternoon, the Pro Loco opens its kitchen in the evening, fried frogs included, and a dance band plays late. On Sunday the town band and Gli Alfieri, Costigliole's flag-wavers, bring the noise. The same Pro Loco runs the summer Sagra del Peperone, the Stramangiando food walks and the October Sapori d'Autunno.
Each year's dates and programme are above.