Gambettola Exchange Market – May Edition

A four-kilometer bazaar

The Gambettola Exchange Market is one of the best-known antique and collectible fairs in Romagna. Twice a year, the Municipality of Gambettola, in the province of Forlì-Cesena, makes its historic center available to host an extraordinary market that winds along about four kilometers of streets and squares: corso Mazzini, viale Carducci, via Gramsci, via Garibaldi, via Don Minzoni, via Matteotti, up to Foro Boario, Pertini, and Cavour squares. If the stalls were lined up one behind the other, they would form a four-kilometer row of antiques.

What you can find

The heart of the event remains linked to the world of vintage engines: historic cars and motorcycles, spare parts, and accessories for collectible vehicles. But over the years, the offer has expanded to include all collectibles and modern antiques. Among the stalls, you can find:

• antique furniture, gramophones, and typewriters;
• vinyl records, watches, coins, stamps, and magazines;
• military uniforms, lace, and embroidery;
• work tools and household items;
• all sorts of curiosities and vintage collectible items.

A history that began in 1988

The first edition was held on May 8, 1988, on the initiative of the then councilor for economic activities Gaetano Vittobello, with a few stalls of car and motorcycle spare parts along viale Carducci. Since then, the Exchange Market has grown to become a double fixed event on the Romagna calendar: the second weekend of May and the first weekend of September. The organization is handled by the Gambettola Exchange Market Committee, with the patronage of the Municipality.

More than a market

In addition to buying and selling, the May edition features special exhibitions set up in Piazza Foro Boario and a space dedicated to children, around the monument to the fallen in Piazza Cavour, where the little ones can engage in exchanges and bartering thanks to the volunteers of the local Avis section. It is an event that combines a passion for the past, an opportunity for business, and a village festival, capable of attracting thousands of visitors from all over Romagna and beyond.