Le Notti di San Michele

An autumn festival in the heart of the Piana Rotaliana

Le Notti di San Michele is a wide-ranging cultural festival that transforms the village of San Michele all'Adige, in the Autonomous Province of Trento (Trentino-Alto Adige), into a widespread stage for theater, music, and tradition every year between September and October. The program is the result of a collaboration between the METS - Trentino Ethnographic Museum, the Municipality of San Michele all'Adige, the Pro Loco, the Piana Rotaliana Königsberg Tourist Consortium, and numerous local and regional associations, creating a schedule that weaves together high culture and village festivities.

The Musical Puppet Festival

The core of the festival is the Musical Puppet Festival, which reached its 15th edition in 2025 under the artistic direction of Luciano Gottardi. On Saturday evenings, the evocative spaces of the Ethnographic Museum host puppet theater companies from various Italian regions, featuring performances where the ancient art of puppetry is enriched by live music. An event designed to captivate both adults and children, blending folk tradition and artistic research in the courtyard and halls of the METS.

Exhibitions, rituals, and study sessions

Alongside the puppet festival, Le Notti di San Michele offers a packed calendar of temporary exhibitions, meetings, and events that highlight the Trentino ethnographic heritage. Recurring themes include autumn rituals, symbols, and the fumigations of peasant tradition, as well as study days dedicated to the museum's historical figures. The festival thus becomes an opportunity to rediscover the tangible and intangible culture of the Trentino people in a place that serves as its privileged guardian.

The San Michele Patronal Feasts

The most popular part of the festival coincides with the Patronal Feasts dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of the village, celebrated around September 29th. Masses, a procession, community lunches, and entertainment in the square, organized by the Pro Loco together with the Municipality, close the program with the participation of the entire community. There is also the traditional Augustinian dinner in the museum cloister, a convivial moment that recalls the historical bond between San Michele and the Augustinian monastery.

An identity-defining event for the Piana Rotaliana

Le Notti di San Michele represents one of the most deeply rooted autumn events in the Piana Rotaliana, a prestigious wine-growing area in Trentino. The festival combines the museum vocation of the METS with the festive spirit of the community, offering residents and visitors an immersion into folk traditions, puppet theater, and the hospitality of a village that, for a month, lives on culture and celebration.