È la Via dell'Orto

Camaiore dresses up with gardens

Every spring, the historic center of Camaiore, a town in the Versilia area of the province of Lucca, comes alive for one of Tuscany's most beloved events dedicated to the world of gardening and the countryside: È la Via dell'Orto. For an entire weekend, the town's streets and squares are filled with stalls, green displays, and the scent of earth, in a grand celebration of agriculture, botany, and local food and wine excellence.

A garden spread across squares and courtyards

The event transforms the heart of Camaiore into a widespread garden: along the streets, you will find exhibitors and stalls selling vegetable plants, seeds, aromatic herbs, and tools for gardens and vegetable patches, alongside the promotion of typical local products and food and wine specialties. In the squares, scenic artistic gardens come to life—true installations created for the occasion—while courtyards and public spaces host displays dedicated to greenery.

Orto-Talk, cooking shows, and dialogues

The beating heart of the event is the large Orto-Talk in Piazza XXIX Maggio, a stage for cooking shows, tastings, and dialogues that weave together cooking, philosophy, history, and sustainability. Chefs, 'agrichefs', and well-known personalities take turns on stage, with the Garden Dialogues involving institutional representatives and figures from the agricultural world. There is no shortage of moments dedicated to the culture of zero-kilometer food and the promotion of Versilia and Tuscan produce.

Workshops, botany, and contests

The impluvium of Palazzo Tori-Massoni hosts the area dedicated to Garden workshops, entirely devoted to gardening, botany, and floriculture: from creating kokedama to botanical techniques, and even cyanotype, an ancient 19th-century photographic printing process. Over the years, the event has also featured the famous Creative Gardens contest, which invites schools and citizens to interpret the theme of the garden in an artistic and decorative way.

An appointment for the whole family

With free admission and a format suitable for both adults and children, È la Via dell'Orto is now a staple of the Versilia spring. Promoted by the Municipality of Camaiore, the event combines a passion for the land, local culture, and good food, offering visitors a weekend immersed in the rural and authentic soul of Versilia.