Cuntè Munfrà – From Monferrato to the World

A festival that tells the story of Monferrato

Cuntè Munfrà – From Monferrato to the World is one of the most deeply rooted and cherished cultural festivals in Piedmont. By its very nature, it is a travelling event, moving year after year through the small villages of the Asti Monferrato hills with a programme that weaves together theatre, music, storytelling, meetings, and memory workshops. The common thread is the Piedmontese linguistic and dialectal heritage: the dialect is not treated as a relic, but as a living language that preserves the stories, crafts, and identity of a territory now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Origins and leadership

The festival was conceived by Luciano Nattino, a leading figure in Piedmontese oral tradition theatre and founder of the Casa degli Alfieri. Today, the artistic direction is in the hands of Massimo Barbero, with anthropological consultancy from Professor Piercarlo Grimaldi, a scholar of folk cultures and rural calendar rituals. The Municipality of Cerro Tanaro, in the Province of Asti, acts as the project leader.

A network of Monferrato villages

Cuntè Munfrà is not tied to a single location: it is a network project involving numerous municipalities in the Asti hills. The featured locations include Castagnole Monferrato, Casorzo Monferrato, Grana Monferrato, Montemagno Monferrato, Revigliasco d'Asti, San Martino Alfieri, and Viarigi, as well as the historic Casa degli Alfieri. This widespread format allows spectators to discover churches, confraternities, squares, and courtyards of the villages, which are transformed into evocative stages for the occasion.

The twenty-fifth anniversary

2026 marks an important milestone: the twenty-fifth anniversary of the festival. A quarter-century of activity has made Cuntè Munfrà a point of reference for those who love folk culture, the Piedmontese language, and the traditions of Monferrato. The 2025 edition offered thirteen events from April to December, with approximately 1,300 total attendees: figures that testify to the public's affection and loyalty to this cultural project.

Memory and territory

Supported by the Piedmont Region as part of a 2025-2027 three-year project, and by the Fondazione CRT and Fondazione CRAsti, the festival collaborates with the Langhe Monferrato Roero Tourism Board, the Astigiani Association, and the ISRAT (Institute for the History of the Resistance and Contemporary Society in the province of Asti) for events dedicated to historical memory. It is no coincidence that some of the inaugural dates coincide with the celebrations of April 25th, the anniversary of the Liberation.