Impruneta Grape Festival

A century of tradition in the heart of Chianti

The Impruneta Grape Festival is one of the most deeply felt and iconic folk events in Tuscany. It takes place in Impruneta, a town in the Metropolitan City of Florence nestled in the Florentine Chianti hills, famous for centuries for its terracotta and its winemaking heritage. Founded in 1926 as an agricultural exhibition of local farm products, the festival adopted its competitive format with the challenge between the districts in the early 1930s, becoming an unmissable appointment on the last Sunday of September.

The challenge of the four districts

The heart of the festival is the grand parade of allegorical floats held in Piazza Buondelmonti, the town's monumental square dominated by the Basilica of Santa Maria. The four historic districts compete for the title:

• Sante Marie — the three red 'M's on a blue field
• Sant'Antonio — the saint with animals on a white field
• Fornaci — the terracotta jar on a red field, a tribute to the Impruneta kiln tradition
• Pallò — the three balls on a green field

Each district has about half an hour to present an original, choreographed show featuring moving floats, costumes, music, and thousands of participants, all strictly built around the theme of grapes and the harvest. A jury awards points and proclaims the winning district, which receives a trophy made entirely of Impruneta terracotta and flies its banner in front of the Town Hall for a week. Behind the single afternoon's spectacle lies the work of about 1,500 volunteers who spend the entire year building floats, sewing costumes, and rehearsing choreographies in their district headquarters.

A full month of events

The Grape Festival is not just about the Sunday parade: throughout the month of September, Impruneta comes alive with a dense calendar of side events. Traditional highlights include the dinner of the four districts in Piazza Buondelmonti, the blessing of the flags in the Basilica of Santa Maria, the rificolona festival, the opening of the Grape Festival Museum with painting exhibitions, as well as sports tournaments, gastronomic competitions, markets, and moments of community solidarity.

2026: the year of the Centenary

The 2026 edition marks a historic milestone: the 100th edition, the year of the Centenary. To celebrate a century of history, the Municipality of Impruneta and the Grape Festival Board have launched a competition for the design of the Centenary Cup, a special trophy crafted in traditional Impruneta terracotta and destined for the festival museum. The Centenary is also accompanied by a major renewal project: the construction of new permanent district headquarters, funded with nearly two million euros, and the involvement of schools with the "Junior Designers" project. A festival that, after one hundred years, continues to be built day by day by the entire Impruneta community.