Collisioni Festival in Piedmont: Nothing Says “Summer” Like Music and Wine

For the people of Piedmont, summer doesn’t really begin until the Collisioni Festival starts. Four days in mid-July surrounded by UNESCO-crowned vineyard landscapes, sampling local food and the region’s excellent wine, while listening to music until late into the night – now that sounds like a summertime party.

Barolo Castle during Collisioni 2014. Photo credit: Diana Zahuranec

Collisioni Festival in Piedmont

Collisioni is an open-air concert and literature fest in Barolo that features Italian and international writers and musicians; it draws visitors from around the world. The first edition was held in 2008, its objective being to bring together various artistic disciplines in one big event. It was immediately successful.

Collisioni, whose name in Italian highlights the “collision” of a packed schedule full of both indie and big artists in one small town and four short days, grows every year. On Friday alone, over ten thousand visitors packed themselves into every cobblestoned alley and courtyard for Deep Purple. For some perspective, Barolo has just under 750 inhabitants.

Collisioni is located in the heart of Barolo wine country in the Langhe, a picture-perfect land nearly as famous for its food as it is for its red, Nebbiolo-based wine. It is almost surprising that the festival began making its overtures to the gourmet crowd only in 2013. And last week, on July 19 and 20, the wine tastings and food & wine pairings were enough to make any self-respecting gourmand drool.

Barolo vineyards as seen from the Castle of Barolo. Photo credit: Diana Zahuranec

The food and wine events were held over the span of the weekend, and they were free – all you had to do was call ahead and reserve a spot (call the Regional Wine Shop, or Enoteca Regionale del Barolo, which is located in the Barolo Castle: Tel. +39 0173 56277 | www.enotecadelbarolo.it; they speak English) – so they were crowded and attracted a line of hopeful add-ons for every appointment.

Hopefully, the organizing powers will consider scheduling wine and food events all four days next year. Some highlights of the food & wine appointments include: a Barolo and Barbaresco tasting; Great Barberas of Piedmont; Pairing Pizza and Wine; Pairing Castelmagno Cheese (a strong-flavored, crumbly, aged Alpine cheese, definitely worth a try) with Barolo; Natural Wines; and a tasting of the Piedmontese hazelnut cake paired with sweet, sparkling Moscato.

The potential for the wine world to reach out to a new generation is staggering, as Forbes wine journalist Cathy Huyghe points out in her article about Collisioni (“Wine Tourism Megahit: Just Add Music”). With 50% of visitors under the age of 30, Collisioni has the force to singlehandedly actuate one of wine’s most effective marketing tools: the power of forming personal, lasting memories.

This, paired with the fun, young, and highly popular event located in such a famous wine zone is a natural segue that allows a younger generation to connect their world to wine.

Collisioni 2014. Photo credit: Diana Zahuranec

The days were hot, the streets were crowded. People milled about from one meet-the-author event to the next concert in the piazza, from one food stand to the next keg stand (ha! Kidding – there was plenty of wine and beer to go around, of course, but keg stands are not Italian style).

Everyone was waiting for the open-air concerts at the end of the day: on Friday, Deep Purple took the stage; on Saturday, the famous Italian singer and songwriter Elisa; on Sunday, the popular Pugliese rapper Caparezza; and on Monday, the Neil Young & Crazy Horse rock band.

Visitors come to Collisioni to spend the entire day in this quaint town, not just to attend the evening concert. Beyond the delicious tastings, lines of food stands, and major evening concerts, the festival attracts an impressive lineup of authors and journalists for panel discussions and appointments that were scheduled all throughout the day.

Most people immediately associate Collisioni with its music, but the event was founded as a co-mingling of artistic disciplines; it’s just that literature is generally quieter than an open-air concert. Some big names from this year include Art Spiegelman, author of the World War II comic Maus; “master of suspense” Jeffrey Deaver; and hard-boiled detective novelist James Ellroy, author of The Black Dahlia.

For the more food- and wine-oriented visitor, there were important chefs and journalists there, too: British wine expert Steven Spurrier of Decanter, Decanter’s Regional Chair for Piedmont and Southern Italy Ian d’Agata, Forbes and Food52 wine columnist Cathy Huyghe, Michelin starred chefs Davide Oldani and Enrico Crippa, and many more.

Panel discussion in the Enoteca Regionale with Ian d’Agata, Steven Spurrier, and Fernanda Roggero. Photo credit: Diana Zahuranec

The event just keeps getting more popular with its growing program of events; if you’re in the Langhe about the same time next year, it is a must to stop by. Tickets for concerts go fast, but to get into the event itself, you can wait until the day you attend and buy tickets at the gate (€10; buying online is possible too, but prices for the individual, featured concerts vary).

Keep an eye out for the dates for the Collisioni Festival next year on their website. This is one party you won’t want to miss.