Summer Fair of Aosta

A day entirely dedicated to Aosta Valley craftsmanship

The Summer Fair is the great summer fair of traditional Aosta Valley craftsmanship, which every year on the first Saturday of August invades the streets and squares of the historic center of Aosta. Founded in 1969 to offer the numerous tourists holidaying in the region a complete overview of local artisan production, it is considered the summer sister of the famous Fiera di Sant'Orso, which is held at the end of January.

About 400 exhibitors and traditional crafts

Along the streets of the Aosta Valley capital, about 400 artisan stalls are set up each summer. Alongside traditional sectors — wood turning, sculpture, and carving, soapstone, wrought iron, and leather working, furniture making, agricultural tools, toys, miniature constructions, wooden flowers, and wicker objects — there is also space for more recent productions such as salt dough, dried flowers, and textiles. Among the symbolic objects, the grolla, the famous Aosta Valley friendship cup, is not to be missed.

Workshops, parades, and tradition

The day is not just a market: the program includes the inauguration in Piazza Émile Chanoux with the municipal band, demonstration workshops on wood carving, musical entertainment by itinerant folk groups, the parade of ancient trades from the center to the Arch of Augustus, and the traditional barrel race. All this in a unique setting amidst the Roman and medieval monuments of Aosta.

The heart of a summer of artisan crafts

The Summer Fair is the culmination of a broader summer calendar promoted by the Department of Economic Development of the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley: the Craftsmanship Exhibition-Competition with the Grand Prix de l'Artisanat, the Atelier des Métiers in Piazza Chanoux, and collateral initiatives such as Orsoff. An unmissable opportunity to discover the cultural identity of an alpine region where craftsmanship is still a living trade passed down from generation to generation.