Friuli Venezia Giulia Events

The calendar is split between Trieste, which does things on a scale the rest of the region does not, and a string of mid-sized town festivals through summer and early autumn.

The Barcolana, Trieste, October

The second Sunday of October, when well over a thousand boats start at once in the gulf — by number of entries it is among the largest sailing regattas in the world. Anyone may enter, which is the point, and the city spends the preceding week on it. Accommodation across Trieste goes at once.

Friuli Doc, Udine, September

Four days in which Udine’s streets are given over to the region’s producers, divided by area rather than by stall type, so the geography of the food is laid out as you walk. It is the region’s largest food event.

Mittelfest, Cividale del Friuli, July

Theatre, music and dance from central Europe, staged in a small medieval town, with the programming deliberately drawn from the countries that used to share a state with this one. It has run since 1991.

Pordenonelegge, September

A literary festival that fills Pordenone for five days and draws audiences from well outside the region.

Music on the border

The No Borders festival stages concerts around the lakes and forests near Tarvisio, at the point where Italy, Austria and Slovenia meet, with the audience often walking in. It runs through July and August.

Ham, cheese and the working year

San Daniele opens its cellars over a weekend in June; Sauris holds its speck festival in July; the grape harvest in the Collio runs September into October. Mountain accommodation is tightest in August and around the winter holidays, and Trieste is tightest for one week in October.