Bardolino Grape and Wine Festival 2026

The Bardolino Grape and Wine Festival (Festa dell’Uva e del Vino di Bardolino) reaches its 95th edition: from Thursday 1 to Monday 5 October 2026 the lakefront fills with food and wine stalls, live music, parades and, on Sunday evening, fireworks over the water. It’s the festival that closes the grape harvest of Bardolino DOC and Chiaretto, and one of the busiest autumn weekends on the lake.

How it works

Entry is free. Wine tastings are paid: at the lakefront stalls you buy the festival kit (glass and glass-holder, €4) and then pay for each taste. The food and wine stalls open at 11 am (10 am on Saturday and Sunday) and close at 1 am, on Monday at midnight. Plastic-free event. Along the way you’ll also find local olive oil tastings, the «cura dell’uva» (fresh-pressed grape juice) in Piazza Catullo, grape bunches for sale at the harbour, wine tapped straight from the big barrel at Villa Terzi, an exhibition of Bardolino artists in Sala Preonda and, on Thursday, Friday and Sunday evening, the «Vino & Arte» video mapping show on Villa Terzi.

Programme

Thursday 1 October: street band from 5:30 pm, ribbon-cutting at 6 pm at Villa Terzi, Radio Pico Weekendance at 8 pm at Parco Carrara Bottagisio.
Friday 2: «Tra vigne e uliveti» (among vineyards and olive groves) walk at 10 am from the IAT tourist office with a tasting at Cantine Lenotti (about 3 hours, booking on bardolinotop.it), bubble show for children 4–6 pm at the Parco Bassani arena, Innsbruck brass band from 5 pm, Luckytrumpet & Dj at 8:30 pm on Lungolago Roma, Funk up hill at 9 pm and dj set at 11 pm at Parco Carrara Bottagisio.
Saturday 3: walk at 10 am with a tasting at Azienda Cà Licante, creative crafts in Borgo Garibaldi 10 am–7 pm, vintage Landini tractors at the San Severo church park 11 am–7 pm, jazz at 2 pm, circus show for children at 3 and 4 pm, Lake Funk Street Band from 5 pm, live music at 9 pm on the lakefront and at the park, dj set at 11 pm.
Sunday 4: Cavriana flag-throwers at 10:30 am, traditional parade through the town centre at 11 am from Piazzale Gramsci, grape-treading «come se fasèa el vin» (the old way of making wine) at 12:30 pm, 44th Corsa dei Pollicini children’s race (ages 2–14) at 3 pm in Piazza Matteotti, Confraternite (brotherhoods) parade with the Filarmonica band at 5:45 pm, 16th wine competition awards at 6 pm, Dirty Dolls at 8 pm, Filarmonica Bardolino concert at 9 pm and fireworks over the water at 10 pm.
Monday 5: «Concerto diVino» at 7 pm in Sala della Disciplina with students from Katia Ricciarelli’s opera singing academy (free entry) and 60s–80s video dance at 8 pm.

Practical information

From Thursday 1 to Monday 5 October 2026, Lungolago Roma and Lungolago Cornicello, Bardolino. Free entry; tastings paid, kit €4. Organised by Fondazione Bardolino Top: full programme and walk bookings at bardolinotop.it, tel. +39 045 6212586. Details confirmed by Fondazione Bardolino Top on 21 September 2026.