Sagra dell'Acciuga al Verde — Sant'Anna di Montiglio

Why it's special

Acciughe al verde, salted anchovies under a green sauce, are a Piedmontese classic, and here they get a whole festa of their own, run by the frazione's own society for eighteen editions. The evenings are held under cover, so rain doesn't stop the dancing.

Programme · 2026

18th edition, organised by the Società Agricola Operaia of Sant'Anna. Food stand from 20:00 with acciughe al verde, antipasti, pizza and desserts, plus the gran fritto di pesce from Saturday; dancing from 21:30, free entry, all under cover; bar and funfair.

• The food stand opens at 20:00 and the dancing starts at 21:30; entry is free and the evenings are held under cover.
• The fish fry (gran fritto di pesce) is served from the Saturday.
• There's a bar and a funfair for children.

Sant'Anna is one of Montiglio Monferrato's frazioni, a cluster of houses around a church dedicated to St Anne, north-west of the main village. Each July its Società Agricola Operaia, the frazione's farmers' and workers' society, turns the patronal feast into a sagra of acciughe al verde: salted anchovies, cleaned and laid under a sauce of parsley, garlic and oil. It is one of the classic Piedmontese antipasti.

The sagra runs over four evenings from Friday to Monday. The stand opens at 20:00 with the anchovies, other antipasti, pizza and desserts, and from the Saturday there is also a fish fry. At 21:30 the dancing starts, with a different liscio orchestra or band each night. The evenings are held under cover, and there is a bar and a small funfair. The religious feast closes the festa: Mass for Sant'Anna and a procession with torches through the lanes of the frazione.

The same society hosts a bagna càuda lunch in November (Bagna càuda in the frazioni). In the same weeks there are feste at Carboneri, Banengo, Montiglio and Rinco. See what else there is in Montiglio Monferrato.