The Baccanale dei Borghi in Alba

a Saturday evening and a Sunday in mid-October when the nine borghi of Alba open their kitchens in the squares of the old town, with people in costume, flags and old games, during the days of the Truffle Fair

an evening, or a SundayDuration

free entry, dishes from 1.50 to 10 eurosPrice

a weekend in mid-OctoberWhen to go

Take me there

Alba is divided into nine borghi, the town's districts, which on the first Sunday of October run the Palio degli Asini, the donkey race, after a parade of more than a thousand people in costume. Two weeks later, for a Saturday evening and a Sunday, the same borghi come down into the squares of the old town with their kitchens: this is the Baccanale dei Borghi. Each borgo sets up its stand with its flags, its people in medieval costume and its old games, and cooks the dishes of the Langhe in portions to eat standing up, from agnolotti, the local filled pasta, to carne cruda, raw meat, and from rice with fonduta, a cheese fondue, to fried frogs. There are eleven stands, because the nine borghi are joined by the Gruppo Storico, the historical group, and the town's flag-wavers, and they are all within a few hundred metres, from Piazza Garibaldi to Piazza Risorgimento, around the cathedral and down to San Domenico, so you do the round on foot, passing from one square to the next. Entry is free and you pay for what you eat. It is a weekend of the Truffle Fair, and during the day the World White Truffle Market is open in the courtyard of the Maddalena. The festival is organised by the Ente Fiera, the fair's organising body, and it goes ahead even if it rains.

Getting there

The centre of Alba is a pedestrian area closed day and night: the motorhome stays outside, and you go to the festival on foot.

From the campsite: Alba Village, in corso Piave, is half an hour's walk from the centre, and in mid-October it is still open. On Saturday evening the Baccanale ends at midnight, and the way back is the same half hour on foot. On a weekend of the Fair the pitches have to be booked
From the Ferrero car park: in via Ognissanti, a quarter of an hour's walk from the centre. At the weekend, with the factory closed, parking is tolerated overnight too; there are no services
During the day: the Tanaro car park, in piazzale Cesare Pio, is five minutes from Piazza Risorgimento, but on the weekends of the Fair it fills up early. On Sunday it is best to arrive in the morning
By train: Alba station is five minutes' walk from the centre, with trains from Bra, Turin and Asti

Practical information

At the festival nothing is booked and there is no entry fee: you walk round the stands and pay dish by dish.

Duration on Saturday you arrive for dinner and wander round until midnight; on Sunday you spend the day between the stands and the Truffle Market, which are a stone's throw apart

Price free entry, dishes from 1.50 to 10 euros

When to go a weekend in mid-October

Suitable for everyone. The streets are flat and pedestrian, but on Saturday evening the squares are very crowded, and with a pushchair or a wheelchair you move slowly. There are six points with toilets along the way

Booking not needed; only the campsite is booked

Contacts

fieradeltartufo.org

info@fieradeltartufo.org

0173 361051

Where it is

Alba · Piemonte

44.702327, 8.032879

You set off from

Alba

0.4 km · Alba Village

1minutes

Notes

Where the stands are, according to the Ente Fiera's 2026 map: the point on the map of this page is Piazza Garibaldi, where the round begins. At the top, where the old town begins, Santa Barbara is in Piazza Garibaldi and Fumo in Piazza San Francesco; then Brichett in Piazza Pertinace; Moretta and San Lorenzo in Piazza Risorgimento, in front of the cathedral; the Gruppo Storico and the flag-wavers behind the cathedral, towards via Acqui, and Santa Rosalia along its side, towards Piazza Miroglio; San Martino and Rane further down, between via Vida and Piazza Vittorio Veneto; Patin e Tesòr in via Accademia, next to San Domenico. On the other side of via Accademia is the courtyard of the Maddalena, with the Truffle Market. The whole round is less than a kilometre
What you eat, from the 2026 menus. Santa Barbara makes ravioli with donkey sauce and polenta with donkey stew, at 7 euros each, and friciò, Piedmontese fritters, with lardo. Fumo the trio of Piedmontese starters, vitello tonnato (veal with tuna sauce), Russian salad and anchovies in green sauce, at 7 euros, carne cruda and gnocchi with robiola, a soft cheese. Brichett the battuta di fassona with black truffle, finely chopped raw Fassona beef, and gnocchi with black truffle, at 9 euros each, egg with black truffle and Barolo Chinato sorbet. Moretta agnolotti with butter and sage, potato subric, small fried patties, tripe or pumpkin soup, and the "dolce di Alba", bread and Nutella, at 2 euros. San Lorenzo rice with fonduta, cotechino sausage with fonduta, hazelnut cake with zabaglione. Santa Rosalia ribs with sausage from the grill, at 10 euros, and polenta with stew or with cheeses, which is also on its gluten-free menu. The Gruppo Storico tagliatelle with black truffle, at 10 euros. The flag-wavers toffee apples and hazelnut cake with hot chocolate. Patin e Tesòr focaccia, cannelloni and baked pasta, and by the glass Barolo and Barbaresco too, at 7 euros a glass. San Martino the crostoni di San Martino, warm bread with lardo, honey and chestnuts, and peaches with chocolate and amaretti. Rane frogs fried in batter, at 10 euros, the tongue sandwich with bagnetto, the Piedmontese green sauce, the biscotti di San Francesco and non-alcoholic mead. Water costs one euro everywhere, beer from 4 to 6 euros
The borghi: they are the same ones that compete in the Palio degli Asini, born according to tradition as Alba's answer to the Palio of Asti, and that at the end of September stage in Piazza Risorgimento the investiture of the Podestà of 1275, when Alba was defending itself against the people of Asti. The Baccanale is their festival without a race: each borgo shows what life was like in medieval Alba with people in costume, displays and crafts, and each one prepares its own old games. What each borgo does, and at what time, the programme does not say: you find out by walking round
The World White Truffle Market is in the courtyard of the Maddalena and is open on the same days, Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 to 19:30: 6 euros, free up to fifteen. On Saturday you can see it in the afternoon and then stay in town for the Baccanale
Rules and services: at the Baccanale it is forbidden to open and consume glass bottles: the Ente Fiera's 2026 page states this, citing an order of the mayor dated 8 October 2025. The toilets are in Piazza Cagnasso, in Piazza Pertinace, in via Vida, in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, in via Accademia and next to the Maddalena. In via Vernazza, a stone's throw from Piazza Risorgimento, there is the meeting point for anyone who gets lost, marked on the map as "area illesi e dispersi", the area for the unhurt and the lost: with children it is worth showing it to them beforehand
When it comes back: the Baccanale usually falls two weeks after the Palio degli Asini, that is in mid-October, but the dates are decided each year by the Ente Fiera. The year's map and menus come out as PDFs on the event page, on the Fair's website
What is not known: when the Baccanale began, no official source says