Bardolino Events
Bardolino is an oasis of fun, with a lot of events arranged every year within its enchanting scenery.
They are musical, sport, cultural and food and beverage events reflecting the identity and traditions of the village.
Not just one, but rather three wine festivals focused on one of the products of excellence of the area. Together with the famous historic “Festa dell’Uva e del Vino” celebrating the local Bardolino, there are the “Festa del vino Novello” celebrated in November and the “Palio del Chiaretto” celebrated on spring to pay homage to the local rosé.
Spring events
Parole sull’Acqua
“Parole sull’Acqua“ is a festival of culture holding famous writers and journalists to promote reading. The event consists in several meetings with authors, writers and journalists of national fame who offer to dialogue with the audience while displaying their most recent works. The events are free and they take place at Piazza del Porto under a tensile structure.
Alberto Matano attending Parole sull'Acqua 2018
Palio del Chiaretto
Date to be defined
The Palio del Chiaretto, nowadays one of the most important Italian events dedicated to the rosé, is a long taste itinerary starting from Cisano up to Punta Cornicello, at the extreme north of Bardolino residential area. Following the old tradition, the local wineries offer different tastes of Bardolino Chiaretto both in its “Classico DOC” and “Spumante DOC” version while explaining visitors the organoleptic properties and features of this fruity wine.
The event includes food and wine, music, culture and entertainment: at Parco Carrara Bottagisio visitors can find a whole area dedicated to food taste and music events.
On the other hand at lungolago Mirabello visitors can buy local products, while at Piazza del Porto they can taste them at Museo dell’Olio and Museo del Vino.
Festa di Sant’Anna a Calmasino
Date to be defined
Since the seventeenth century Calmasino has held various festivities; although the most ancient festivity is the one dedicated to the patron saint San Michele Arcangelo, the most popular event is the Festa di Sant’Anna. It is a traditional town festival holding a great variety of stands with local food and beverage accompanied by music entertainment, a big amusement park for children and fireworks.
Concert
Aperitivo Sotto le Stelle
Date to be defined
“Aperitivo Sotto le Stelle” is an exclusive event dedicated to wine and food lovers and to all those people who enjoy having fun. During the event, the lungolago Cornicello is not admitted to the public but only to the visitors who bought the ticket; they have reserved access to the area that is finely set up with local wine stands and local food tasting tours.
Music shows and fireworks on the water make the event unique.
Lungolago Cornicello
Un, due, tlè
Date to be defined
Tree days to celebrate figurative art while enjoying one of the most peculiar views of Bardolino: Borgo Garibaldi, that all day long holds the works of fifty artists from all over the country thus turning this gorgeous little square and its alleys into an open-air art gallery.
The exhibit includes not only paintings and sculptures but also ceramic works, photographs and creative works.
Esposizione degli artisti
Sagra dei Osei a Cisano
The Sagra dei Osei of Cisano is a local festival with ancient origins. As a matter of fact hunting fairs and festivals were born in the north of Italy in the twelfth century, since the region had a greater bird migration.
The Cisano festival had a lot of visitors who joined it to stock up with useful decoys in view of the imminent hunting season, as well as with agricultural or enological tools and courtyard animals. Moreover, the festival represented a rare occasion to savor a good tripe or polenta dish with osei,together with a glass of Bardolino. Today the Sagra dei Osei includes ornithological exhibits and decoy competitions with major national chioccolatori (bird-call imitators) and it gives the opportunity to taste the most famous speciality foods such as quail with polenta, tripe, riso al tastasal and other meat or fish dishes.
Live music and entertainment make the event atmosphere even more festive, such as the wondeful finale with the awaited fireworks at the port of Cisano.
Antica Fiera di San Michele
The traditional festival dedicated to San Michele, the patron saint of Bardolino, takes place every year in Calmasino at the end of September. It is a festival full of food events which offers the opportunity to taste all kind of speciality food, such as tripe and “stracotto d’asino” together with the local wine (of course! It’s harvest season!)
The festival also represents a good occasion to discover the region (through the guided tours around the historic and panoramic paths) and its traditions (through the old occupations show and the agricultural machinery parade through the village streets). The festival livens up with shows, children workshops, markets and live music.
Festa dell’Uva e del Vino Bardolino
Date to be defined
The most awaited festival of the year and most important event taking place in Bardolino is the traditional “Festa dell’Uva e del Vino”; it was born in 1929 to celebrate harvest and wine.
It is one of the most attended events of the region with its music, colours, food and beverage, local handcraft and shows; it aims to celebrate one of the distinctive products of the region: the Bardolino Wine! The local associations and wineries arrange tasting itineraries on the lakefront and at Parco Carrara Bottagisio to allow visitors to taste the various Bardolino versions, from Classico and Superiore to Chiaretto. To fully enjoy the wine, you can visit the food stands and try local food and other recipes on the lake shore.
The numerous music events add a feeling of glee to the festival: singers and bands perform all musical genres at Parco Carrara Bottagisio and the port to make everyone dance!
On the other hand it’s time for shopping at lungolago Mirabello, with dozens of stores and brands from all over the country.
Borgo Garibaldi holds “Il cortile delle arti e dei mestieri”, with the participation of numerous companies representing the quality of the Italian creativity and handcraft. The main symbol of the festival is the big barrel distributing grape juice in Piazza Catullo. It is six meters high and 4 meters wide.
Festa del Novello
Date to be defined
This festival combines tradition, culture, food and beverage with autumn colours and flavours celebrating the Bardolino Novello: the first harvest fruit, a young, soft and fruity wine. The festival takes place at Piazza del Porto, where visitors can find tree different wineries collocated inside the big barrel carried out for the Festa dell’Uva; Costadoro, Girardelli and Raval preview a red wine taste together with a truly fitting autumn food: chestnuts.
In the meantime lungolago Lenotti holds a food and beverage and handcraft market, where visitors can find all kind of speciality food and products. On Saturday and Sunday from 3 to 5pm Piazza del Porto will hold live music events.
Christmas in Bardolino
dal 26 Novembre 2022 al 8 gennaio 2023
During Christmas holidays, Bardolino becomes a magic village dedicated to the most awaited time of the year, with a lot of events to celebrate Christmas in the wonderful setting of Lake Garda.
On the lakefront dozens of carefully selected companies show their high quality products: from local food and beverage to handcrafted goods and home-made Christmas decorations.
At the end of this shopping itinerary full of traditional Tyrolese stalls, visitors can have something to eat and drink inside a big warmed transparent igloo next to the covered ice skating rink. Lungolago Cornicello is dedicated to children, food and beverage. The warmed covered children’s area holds didactic workshops and ludic activities, while the area dedicated to food and beverage offers local food of the region.
At Parco Carrara Bottagisio visitors can enjoy the lake beauties from the unique view of the Ferris wheel. But there’s much more besides: the alleys of the village centre light up with hundreds of illuminations and Piazza Matteotti holds the Majestic Christmas tree with its more than 8 meters and its blue lights; the Medieval Church of San Severo – a true architectural jewel set in the village centre – holds the exposition of nativity scenes from all over the world. Finally, Epiphany is celebrated with the traditional “bruiel de la vecia”bonfire, together with chocolate, pandoro and vin brulé.
Skating rink on the port
Regular events
Markets
During your stay in Bardolino, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy the village and its everyday life. While visiting the market stalls, you will enjoy a familiar atmosphere and a calm shopping time with a view on the lake. Weekly markets are a great opportunity to discover the natural foodstuffs of the region together with goods of all kind, such as clothes and home stuffs.
Finally, you can also find vintage and shabby chic markets, handcraft markets and much more.
Music
If you love music, from May to October you can enjoy the magic atmosphere of the Italian opera with the “Italian Opera Concert”, a great opportunity to listen to the most famous airs and duets by major composers such as Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, Rossini and Mozart.
The concerts take place in the elegant Sala della Disciplina. Since 1858 the historic Filarmonica di Bardolino offers high quality music with its band and chorale performing numerous concerts every year during Bardolino most popular festivals. Take a look at the concerts