La via dei Sensi Autumn Festival in Bivongi

The story

"La via dei Sensi – Festival d'autunno", the Way of the Senses autumn festival, is how Bivongi, a village in the Stilaro Valley in the province of Reggio Calabria, celebrates the season of chestnuts and new wine in the run-up to St Martin's Day. In 2026 the festival runs for a week, from 7 to 14 November, with four events in different parts of the village: the former nursery school on Via Margherita, Piazzetta Vittorio Emanuele and Piazza Umberto I. The poster lists local associations, from the Pro Loco tourist board to the senior citizens' centre and Yepp Bivongi, alongside the logos of Italy's Ministry of Tourism, the Calabria Region, the GAL Terre Locridee and the Serre Regional Park.

The common thread is the senses and the link between generations. The first two afternoons are designed for children, with a workshop on autumn decorations and fruit and a traditional cooking workshop alongside the village's older residents. On Thursday 12 November an old-style afternoon snack brings pitta bread, olive oil and roasted chestnuts to the little square, and "A Lumera", Bivongi's museum of rural life, opens its doors specially for the occasion.

The highlight is Saturday 14 November, the feast of St Martin. The afternoon is devoted to the wine that bears the village's name: Bivongi DOC, recognised in 1996 and produced in ten municipalities between the Locride area and the border with the province of Catanzaro, is the focus of a talk on sustainability, community and the ecological transition. In the evening Piazza Umberto I fills with street food and open wineries, and at 9pm the "Giannini live" concert closes the festival.

Schedule

• 7 November 2026, at 10:00 "L'autunno tra le mani & frutta decorata" (Autumn in your hands and decorated fruit) at the former nursery school on Via Margherita: a double workshop for children, with autumn decorations and a seasonal snack, run with Yepp, Radici e le Ali and a nutritionist
• 8 November 2026, at 16:00 "Profumi della terra e delle tradizioni" (Scents of the land and of tradition) at the former nursery school on Via Margherita: a cooking workshop for children with the Pro Loco and the senior citizens' centre
• 12 November 2026, at 16:30 "Pitta, olio e caldarroste" (Pitta bread, olive oil and roasted chestnuts) in Piazzetta Vittorio Emanuele: an old-fashioned afternoon snack with the senior citizens' centre and Yepp Bivongi, plus a special opening of the "A Lumera" museum
• 14 November 2026, at 16:30 St Martin's Day: in the conference room of the former nursery school on Via Margherita, a talk on the future of Bivongi DOC wine, sustainability, community and the ecological transition
• 14 November 2026, at 19:00 Street food and open wineries in Piazza Umberto I
• 14 November 2026, at 21:00 "Giannini live" concert in Piazza Umberto I

What to eat

The star of Thursday's snack is pitta, Calabria's flatbread, served with olive oil and roasted chestnuts, the classic flavours of autumn in the south. Among Bivongi's traditional festive sweets there is also the pitta di San Martino.

On Saturday evening the street food in Piazza Umberto I comes with open wineries, a chance to taste Bivongi DOC, made as red, white, rosé, riserva and novello (new wine).

Getting there

The events take place in the centre of Bivongi, between the former nursery school on Via Margherita, Piazzetta Vittorio Emanuele and Piazza Umberto I. Lamezia Terme Airport is about 87 km away; from the SS106 Ionian coast road, turn inland at Monasterace and follow the Stilaro Valley.

How to get to Bivongi: full guide