Cherry Festival

The signature festival of Pecetto Torinese

Every year, at the beginning of June, the small town of Pecetto Torinese — nestled in the hills just a few kilometers from the regional capital, in the Province of Turin — transforms into the cherry capital. The Cherry Festival is one of the oldest and most beloved food and wine events in Piedmont: a tradition that has been renewed for over a century and has earned the town the nickname "Cherry Village".

A tradition over a hundred years old

Cherry growing in Pecetto is deeply rooted in local history: as early as 1911, the town's cherries were promoted at the Turin International Exhibition. The Pecetto cherry is now a Traditional Agri-food Product (a recognition obtained in 2001) and is included in the Basket of typical products of the Province of Turin. The quality of the various cultivars is safeguarded by the work of FACOLT (Frutticoltori Associati Collina Torinese), which has been active since 1983 in the research and promotion of this fruit.

What to find at the festival

The heart of the event is the pomological exhibition and market, a competition-exhibition dedicated to the numerous varieties of cherries grown on the hills, accompanied by stalls from the best local cherry growers and producers from the Chierese-Carmagnolese Food District. Along the streets of the center, you can taste and purchase:

• fresh, top-quality cherries, freshly picked;
• artisanal jams, tarts, cherry marron glacé, and traditional biscuits;
• Piedmontese cuisine dishes that reinterpret the fruit, from cherry tajarin pasta to roasts with cherry reduction.

Folklore, music, and traditional masks

The festival is punctuated by the Cherry Concert, performed by the local La Ceresera band, and the evocative Red Dinner in Piazza Roma, during which the historical masks of Bela Ceresera and Munsù Grafiün, the identity symbols of the Pecetto community, are officially invested. Among the most curious initiatives is the World Cherry Pit Spitting Championship, open to both adults and children. The program is completed by school exhibitions, photography shows, craft markets, and the extraordinary opening of the village's historical sites.

An event for the whole hillside

Sponsored by the Metropolitan City of Turin and organized by the Municipality of Pecetto Torinese together with the Pro Loco, the Cherry Festival is much more than a simple food fair: it is the moment when an entire town shares its agricultural identity and welcomes visitors from Turin and all over Piedmont for a weekend dedicated to taste and tradition.