Fiera di San Nicola

A tradition marking the end of summer

The Fiera di San Nicola is the most anticipated popular event in Pesaro, in the Marche region, province of Pesaro and Urbino. Every year, in September, the city's seafront transforms into an immense open-air exhibition stretching for about 3,000 linear metres of exhibition space, covering an area of over 18,000 square metres. With more than 500 exhibitors from all over Italy and an attendance exceeding 150,000 visitors, the fair has always set the city's rhythm and ideally marks the closing of the bathing season.

From the "onion fair" to today

The event's history is long and fascinating. Pesaro hosted several fairs throughout the year linked to patron saint festivals: Santa Mustiola in July, San Gaetano and the Madonna in August, San Terenzio and San Nicola in September. Of all of them, only the Fiera di San Nicola has survived the passage of centuries. The name recalls Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, the Augustinian friar who arrived in 1258 at the hermitage monastery on the hill of Valmanente, near Pesaro. Originally, the fair was dedicated to goods, livestock, and agricultural products: among these, garlic and onions predominated in quantity and variety, having a privileged place in Piazza Maggiore. Precisely for this reason, until the first half of the 20th century, the people of Pesaro called it the "onion fair", an vegetable that still remains the event's graphic symbol today.

What to find at the fair

The fair is organized into thematic routes that cross the streets and squares of the seafront:

• Stallholders and miscellaneous goods: hundreds of stalls with clothing, household items, footwear, curiosities, and bargains along the main avenues.
• La Via dei Sapori (The Street of Flavours): zero-kilometre food and wine excellences from the Pesaro and Urbino area, with DOC and DOP products.
• Capitale del Gusto (Capital of Taste): the large area dedicated to regional gastronomy, from Urbino's crescia to Acqualagna's black truffle pasta, from fried fish to polenta.
• Crafts and artistic creations: handmade works and artisan trades.
• Children's market: a space where children can exchange and sell toys and objects, with free participation.
• Volunteer streets: stands of local associations.

Shows, entertainment, and family

In addition to shopping and good food, the Fiera di San Nicola offers free shows every evening in Piazzale d'Annunzio, with live music, comedy, and entertainment, as well as numerous activities for children and families: workshops, games, educational farms with ponies and alpacas. An event designed to be enjoyed by the entire city and the many tourists who choose the Pesaro coast even at the end of summer.