Spring Festival with the Prugnolo

The festival that announces spring in Val Taro

The Spring Festival with Prugnolo is the event that every year, in mid-May, marks the awakening of the beautiful season in Borgo Val di Taro (Borgotaro), in the Province of Parma, in the heart of the Emilia-Romagna Apennines. Organized by the historic Pro Loco Borgo Val di Taro along the tree-lined Viale Bottego, the event transforms the town center into a large open-air market of flowers, plants, seeds, and natural products, where the air smells of damp earth and spring.

The Prugnolo, Saint George's Mushroom

The gastronomic heart of the festival is the prugnolo, also known as Saint George's mushroom (Calocybe gambosa): a wild spring mushroom that grows in the meadows and along the edges of the woods in Alta Val Taro between April and May. In a land famous for the Borgotaro IGP Mushroom, the prugnolo represents the first harvest of the year, eagerly awaited by foragers and gourmets. During the festival, it's easy to find it in traditional dishes: creamy risottos, tagliatelle with a forest flavor, and fragrant omelets, accompanied by Apennine wines.

Markets, Flavors, and Village Life

For two days, Viale Bottego comes alive from morning with stalls selling flowers and natural products. At noon and in the evening, the Pro Loco offers outdoor lunches and dinners, with mountain cuisine specialties and the unmissable fried dishes that attract residents and visitors. There are also moments dedicated to greenery and gardening:

• flower, plant, and natural product market along Viale Bottego;
• courses and practical demonstrations of fruit tree cultivation and organic gardening;
• outdoor lunches and dinners with typical Val Taro dishes;
• tastings of seasonal products, with prugnolo in the lead;
• craft and local product stands.

A Town Linked to Mushrooms

Borgo Val di Taro is one of the symbolic Municipalities of Italian mushroom culture: it is home to the Strada del Fungo Porcino di Borgotaro and hosts the famous Mushroom Fair every autumn. The Spring Festival with Prugnolo is its spring version, more intimate and tied to the rhythm of the seasons, offering visitors the chance to discover an authentic corner of the Parma Apennines, amidst nature, popular traditions, and genuine flavors.

When it takes place

The event traditionally takes place on a weekend in mid-May. For the 2026 edition, the dates indicated by the Val Taro tourist calendar are Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, 2026. The detailed program is usually released by the Pro Loco in the weeks preceding the event.