Risò - International Rice Festival

The first edition of Risò - International Rice Festival transformed Vercelli into the world capital of rice from September 11 to 14, 2025, with the main Village open to the public from September 12 to 14 in Piazza Antico Ospedale, covering an area of over 13,000 sqm. The event recorded an extraordinary success: over 70,000 attendees over the three days, over 10,000 participants in the "Borghi delle Vie d'Acqua" thanks to the RisòFF (Fuori Festival), and approximately 5 million contacts reached by the promotional campaign.

The festival was spread across numerous spaces in the historic center—in addition to Piazza Antico Ospedale, the Borsa Merci, the Salone Dugentesco, the Crypt of Sant'Andrea, and the Civic Theatre—with food areas, talks, kids' activities, an international section, and a section dedicated to agricultural machinery. Cultural highlights included a lecture by Professor Alessandro Barbero, widely followed via streaming, and a university conference on the history of the mondine.

The international dimension was strong: nine European Ministers and delegates of agriculture, the participation of the FAO and the European Commission, over 500 B2B meetings between foreign buyers and Piedmontese companies, and the launch of EURice, the European alliance for rice.