Why it’s a national fair (and why it matters so much here)

It’s not a small-town food fest. The Piedmont Region has granted it the national fair status since 2009: it’s an official market exhibition, with selected exhibitors from all over Italy and, increasingly, from across the border. In 2026 they celebrate the 27th edition of the modern format and, at the same time, 90 years since the first fair back in the 1930s. From 2027 it will become an international fair.

For Cuneo, the marrone isn’t just an excuse to celebrate. Up to the mid-20th century, in the valleys, the chestnut tree was “the bread tree”: flour, roasted chestnuts, drying huts. Cuneo chestnuts left the city market for Genoa and, from there, all the way to New York: in America “the Cuneo” was synonymous with chestnut. Today the province has about 2,400 farms, over 4,200 hectares of fruit chestnut groves and an average output between 37 and 41 thousand quintals. The fair is the showcase for this supply chain.

The numbers confirm it: 200–300 thousand visitors in three days and, in 2025, the New York Times listed it among the seven tastiest European autumn harvest festivals, calling the Cuneo marrone an “autumn jewel”.

Chestnut or marrone? What you’ll find in our valleys

In the kitchen everything is used as “chestnut”, but in the orchard there is a difference. The marrone is usually a single fruit in the burr, larger, sweeter, with a skin that peels off more easily: it’s the one for pastry and for marrons glacés. The chestnut often has two or three in the same burr, is smaller and suits flour and drying.

Both, if grown under the production rules, can bear the Castagna Cuneo IGP: a label covering about twenty traditional varieties and around a hundred municipalities in the Granda area.

The varieties you’ll hear mentioned most often

• Marrone di Chiusa Pesio — the most “noble”. Large size, fine flesh, the favourite for jams and glacé.
• Garrone Rosso — Grana and Stura Valleys. Medium-large, great fresh and in jam.
• Garrone Nero — Grana, Gesso, Pesio. Table fruit, bold flavour.
• Tempuriva — Stura, Varaita, Maira. It comes earlier than the others, already by late September.
• Gentile and Bracalla — classic fresh-eating varieties from the Cuneo valleys.
• Castagna della Madonna and Sarvaschina — early, smaller, the first at the fair.
• Gabiana and Pelosa — late, meant for the drying hut and flour.

At the fair you’ll find them roasted, boiled, as a cream, in desserts, in flour and in liqueurs. A tip from home: taste a Marrone di Chiusa Pesio and a Garrone Rosso side by side. You’ll see why they hold a national fair here and not just a simple chestnut roast.

When, where, times (and the City’s program)

Confirmed 2026 dates: Friday 16, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October.
Edition theme: «A journey across 90 years».
Official website: marrone.net

Public opening hours, already announced for this edition, are:

Where. Piazza Galimberti, Via Roma, Piazza Virginio. Nearby: Contrada Mondovì (crafts), Giardini Fresia (workshops and families), Sala San Giovanni, Palaclima in Largo Audiffredi.

The calendar of concerts, talks, randonnée rides and special openings of the Civic Tower usually comes out close to the event. Follow it on marrone.net/programma and on comune.cuneo.it.

How to enjoy it from Eremes, stress-free

Friday afternoon is the easiest time: fewer crowds, stands already open, great light for photos. Saturday is the big day. Sunday ends earlier. Bring a bag for the chestnuts to take back to your room — and a bit of patience in the square.