At the Carmagnola Pepper Fair, food becomes culture, theater, and poetry

A fair that knows how to tell its story. The 77th National Pepper Fair of Carmagnola, scheduled from August 28th to September 6th in the city's historic center, is not only a great gastronomic showcase, but also a place where culture, theater, literature, and community come together around the table and the stage, each year crafting a richer and more nuanced narrative than the product alone could possibly contain.

The 2026 edition, promoted by the Municipality of Carmagnola and organized by SGP Grandi Eventi, confirms this with a program that blends different generations, languages, and sensibilities.

Among the most anticipated moments of this edition is the Gran Gala of the Gruppo Teatro Carmagnola, which celebrates its 55th anniversary in 2026. One of the cultural institutions most deeply rooted in the city's history takes the stage in Piazza Sant'Agostino on Thursday, September 3, at 10:00 PM, for a show that is both celebration and spectacle: hilarious sketches, music, singing, and dancing in a mix that will make you laugh and cry. In the background, the most significant memories of five decades of Carmagnola's theatrical life, projected like a collective album.

Among those scheduled for Piazza Sant'Agostino, one format best captures the cultural vocation of this fair: Poetando tra i Fornelli (Poetry among the Fornelli), an event where cooking, poetry, and theater meet and intertwine. Food blogger Maria Antonella Calopresti opens the event with an original format in which the preparation of dishes intertwines with poetic readings of recipes, demonstrating how every flavor can become a story to be read and shared. Following this, author Fabio Clerici and actor Lino Fontana will lend voice to the pages through a reading in which food becomes a narrative, each recipe comes to life like a stage act, and the audience finds itself witnessing something they never expected to find at a pepper fair.

How do we talk about food today, when cuisine becomes content and the dish becomes image even before flavor? Paola Uberti, founder of Libricette, will answer this question. She will preview her new digital cookbooks at the Fiera's Salotto in Piazza Sant'Agostino in a talk titled "Communicating Food: A Question of Head and Heart" dedicated to the relationship between gastronomic excellence and food and wine communication in the social media era.

The cultural dimension of the Fair also passes through its institutional awards, which each year provide the Carmagnola community with a moment of collective recognition.

The Peperone d'Oro Award, which honors a local figure who has distinguished himself nationally and brought prestige to the city, will be presented on Monday, August 31st at 8:00 PM at the Salotto della Fiera in Piazza Sant'Agostino. It will be presented to Professor Cristina Prandi, Rector of the University of Turin. The 2026 Bontà Award, which recognizes an organization that has distinguished itself through its commitment to solidarity, social work, or volunteerism, will be presented to the Carmagnola Lions Club on Thursday, September 3rd at 8:00 PM at the Salotto della Fiera in Piazza Sant'Agostino. These two awards, year after year, build the living memory of a community that looks upon itself with gratitude and pride.

Alongside the cultural events, the event offers free evening shows in Piazza Sant'Agostino, cooking shows and gastronomic challenges at the BTM PalaPeperone, the Foro Festival with major national artists at the Foro Boario in Piazza Italia, and the great Maxi Peperonata on the final Sunday of September 6th.