In the Cimini hills there are two villages where, in October, people eat underground. In Canepina and Vallerano, a few kilometres apart, the cellars carved into the tufa beneath the houses open their doors and turn into trattorias: long tables, walls of bare rock, local wine and chestnuts in every form. The two festivals share the same weekends. Here is the 2026 calendar, one weekend at a time.

Two villages, one season

Canepina's Giornate della Castagna (Chestnut Days) reach their 44th edition in 2026. The cellars serve the village's own dishes: above all maccaroni canepinesi, a pasta so fine that locals call it «fieno», hay, and ceciliani. On Sundays the Pro Loco hands out roast chestnuts in Piazza Garibaldi.

Vallerano's Festa della Castagna is built around a product with a name of its own: the Castagna di Vallerano DOP, a protected-origin chestnut. Here too you eat in historic tufa cellars, run by the village's associations. On festival weekends there are concerts, guided walks and outings into the chestnut woods; there are two parades, the historical procession on 10 October and the farmers' parade on 1 November.

The 2026 calendar, weekend by weekend

  • Friday 2 October — Canepina: at 8:30pm the Comitato Santa Corona holds its charity dinner, the Cena della solidarietà, ahead of the official opening on Sunday 11 October at 3pm.
  • Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October — first weekend in both villages. On Saturday 10 Vallerano's historical procession parades with the flag-throwers of Giove; on Sunday 11 at 3pm Canepina officially opens its festival.
  • Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October — second weekend. On Sunday 18 Canepina runs its donkey race.
  • Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October — third weekend. On Sunday 25 Canepina holds the barrel race. It is also the night the clocks go back.
  • Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November — the grand finale over All Saints' weekend, in both villages. On Sunday 1 November the farmers' parade closes Vallerano's festival.

In Canepina, on festival days, the cellars open for lunch and dinner (at 1pm and 8pm). In Vallerano, cellar lunches start at noon and dinners at 8pm. The 2026 programme is already on the festival's official website, weekend by weekend; the full day-by-day version is due any day now.

The donkey race and the barrel race

These are the two events that set Canepina apart from every other chestnut festival. On Sunday 18 October at 3:30pm, along Via Roma, the 34th Palio degli Asini is run, preceded by a folk procession re-enacting how chestnuts were once carried down from the woods on the backs of donkeys. Donkeys, of course, make up their own minds. That is exactly the charm.

On Sunday 25 October at 3:30pm comes the Palio delle Botti: the village cellars compete by pushing a wine barrel by hand up the sloping streets, with the band in tow. It takes balance and steady hands, especially on the bends.

Planning your visit

  • Arrive early or late, never at noon. On Sundays the villages fill up, and the best cellars have a queue as soon as they open.
  • In Canepina, leave the car outside the village. On Sundays a free shuttle runs from the morning until 8pm from the industrial area at Cornacchiola to the centre.
  • In Vallerano, check the parking map on the festival website: the lanes of the old centre were not made for cars.
  • Comfortable shoes. The streets climb and the paving is old.
  • Bring a light jacket. The tufa keeps the cellars cool, and evenings in the Cimini hills turn crisp.

One weekend, several festivals

Round here, October is a whole season. Until 18 October there is also the Chestnut Festival of Soriano nel Cimino, with the town in medieval dress: we cover it in our guide to the festival. On the weekends of 10-11 and 17-18 October, Caprarola's Cioccofest brings chocolate and chestnuts to the Parco delle Scuderie of Palazzo Farnese — a good excuse to see the palace as well. And for what to buy and cook this time of year, read our piece on truffles and chestnuts in Tuscia.

All the festivals in the province, season by season, are gathered on our Events and festivals in Tuscia page.

Where to stay

Villa Vacanze Valentina is in Bassano in Teverina, in the province of Viterbo: Canepina and Vallerano are about 25 minutes away, Soriano 20, Rome an hour and the Orte exit of the A1 motorway 15. Two apartments in the villa, each for up to four guests, and the Lovers' Cottage for two, with its own private garden.

In autumn the house is lived indoors: heating, a dishwasher in the apartments, and in one of the two an open fireplace with firewood included. You come back from the cellar, light the fire, and the quiet of the countryside does the rest. Everything is on our holiday home near Viterbo page.

Dates and times come from the official programmes published at the end of September 2026 and may change: check them on the two festivals' websites or with the municipality before you set off.

Foto: Albarubescens, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.