Its first editions date back to the 1930s, when it was held in Piazza Galimberti and the city of Cuneo become a real open air market, a point of reference for chestnut products, one of the best suppliers in northern Italy. Due to the beginning of the world conflict the fair was suspended and only in 1999 its inheritance has been recovered thanks to the start-up by the Cuneo ATL of the project “Il Tempo delle castagne”. To support initiatives in favour of the revival of chestnut cultivation, it was established an Association for its enhancement, to whose aim is to recreate the “reborn” Chestnut Fair in Cuneo.
The first edition of the “reborn fair” achieved an amazing success: over one hundred thousand visitors, many of whom were foreigners, who flocked to the streets of the historic city centre attracted by the scents and atmosphere of an ancient tradition.
The event also received widespread approval from operators, scholars and technicians of the mountain institutions and the University and it was proclaimed the opening event of the over thirty autumn events of the Cuneo province. Its consolidation, in the following years, was attended by all the major productive realities of the territory and local authorities, including the municipality of Cuneo, which in 2004 took full ownership of the Fair. Since 2005, the Chestnut Fair has been recognised by the Piedmont Region as a “Regional Fair” and in 2009 as a “National Fair“.
In 2015, after a move of a few years to allow the completion of the redevelopment works in the historic centre, the Fair returned to Via Roma, giving people the opportunity to admire the facades of the main buildings restored to their former glory.
This Fair has become a showcase of the excellence of the territory and a point of reference for Italian chestnut cultivation.
