Ajucche Festival

A festival dedicated to a mountain herb

The Ajucche Festival is one of the most cherished spring events in Quincinetto, a small town in the Upper Eporediese area overlooking the Dora Baltea river in the province of Turin (Piedmont). For nearly twenty years, the Quincinetto Pro Loco has organized this celebration to showcase a product as humble as it is iconic: the ajucca, a wild herb that grows in the woods and mountain pastures of the northwestern Canavese region.

What is an ajucca?

The local name "ajucca" (in Italian raponzolo, scientifically Phyteuma spicatum) refers to a wild herbaceous plant that sprouts between April and May in pastures and woods at altitudes between 600 and 2,000 meters. It is a tradition shared by the municipalities of the Upper Eporediese, such as Andrate, Carema, Nomaglio, Settimo Vittone, Tavagnasco, and the Val Chiusella. Harvesting it is a seasonal ritual passed down through generations; Pliny the Elder even wrote that the Salassi people used it for its invigorating properties.

The traditional menu

The heart of the festival is the table. The Pro Loco offers a traditional menu built entirely around ajucche, including:

• Ajucche soup served with miasse, traditional thin cornmeal wafers cooked between red-hot iron plates;
• Tomini with aromatic herbs, fresh local cheeses;
• Polenta and ravioli scented with mountain herbs;
• Ajucche tart and other traditional desserts.

Sunday lunch is served self-service style, while the bar remains open all day, serving the ever-present miasse.

More than just food

Alongside the food stalls, the festival hosts a market of artisans and local products that brings the town center to life, providing an ideal opportunity to discover the excellence of the Canavese region. The event is free to enter and offers a chance to stroll through the streets of Quincinetto, admire the alpine landscape, and soak up the authentic atmosphere of a village festival.

A heritage of the Canavese

The Ajucche Festival is much more than a food fair: it is a guardian of the rural and alpine culture of Northern Piedmont. By championing the harvesting and cooking of this wild herb, Quincinetto and its Pro Loco preserve ancient knowledge linked to the land, the seasons, and the biodiversity of the Canavese mountains.