April Festival (Liberation Day Anniversary)

The April Festival: memory turned into celebration

Every year, in the weeks leading up to April 25th, Alessandria transforms into a vast space of collective memory with the April Festival, a calendar of initiatives dedicated to the Anniversary of the Liberation. It is not just a single ceremony, but a dense tapestry of events spread throughout the city: exhibitions, in-depth meetings, debates, screenings, theatrical and musical performances, sports tournaments, and educational projects with schools. The common thread is clear: to keep alive the history of the Resistance and the anti-fascist values that gave birth to the Republic.

Who organizes it

The event is promoted by the A.N.P.I. Alessandria branch together with I.S.R.A.L. (Institute for the History of the Resistance and Contemporary Society in the Province of Alessandria), with the patronage and collaboration of the City of Alessandria and the Province, as well as numerous local associations such as the Nastro Azzurro Institute and the National Association of Families of the Fallen and Missing. It is a broad civic network that schedules dozens of free, open-to-all proposals every spring.

The festival venues

The beating heart of the initiatives is the Casa di Quartiere on Via Verona, which hosts exhibitions, debates, and evening shows. However, events touch many other symbolic places in the city: the Palazzo del Monferrato, the CGIL courtyard, the Chapter Hall of the Cathedral of San Pietro, city sports facilities, and, of course, the Monumental Cemetery and the War Memorial on Corso Crimea, the site of the official April 25th ceremony.

Memory and conviviality

The April Festival combines moments of historical reflection with pure popular conviviality. Among the most cherished are the Anti-fascist Pasta Party, which recalls the famous gesture of the Cervi family in July 1943, and the Liberation Toast, a social occasion that closes the evenings at the Casa di Quartiere. Performances such as musical readings, concerts of resistance songs, and theatrical plays complete the program with a language capable of speaking to younger generations as well.

A civic tradition in Alessandria

For Alessandria, a provincial capital in the heart of eastern Piedmont, the April Festival is much more than a commemoration: it is an identity-defining event that links the city to its partisan history. Schools are key players with dedicated projects and public readings of historical documents, such as the surrender act of the provincial CLN. Participating means experiencing two weeks of initiatives that weave together history, culture, art, and street festivities.