Alassio’s event calendar reflects its dual identity as a classic Italian beach resort and a town with enough year-round life to sustain a winter programme. Summer brings the biggest draws — beach volleyball tournaments, open-air concerts, and the Ferragosto fireworks over the bay. The Muretto continues to attract celebrity tile signings throughout the year, adding a touch of glamour to any season. Autumn shifts focus to food, with the olive harvest and the local pigato white wine taking centre stage. Even the quiet winter months bring the Christmas lights strung through the Budello and a New Year celebration on the seafront. Read our Alassio month-by-month climate data.
Alassio Events and Festivals: Spring and Summer
- Festa di Sant’Ambrogio (First Sunday of May): Alassio’s patron saint festival fills the piazza outside the Collegiata di Sant’Ambrogio with food stalls, a small funfair, and an evening procession carrying the saint’s statue through the Budello. Restaurants offer fixed-price menus of around 25 euros featuring local seafood and the first spring vegetables.
- Alassio Jazz Festival (Mid-July): A three-day jazz festival with free open-air concerts on the lungomare and ticketed evening performances in Piazza Sant’Ambrogio. Past performers have included Italian and international jazz musicians. Evening concerts start at 9pm and tickets cost 15 to 25 euros.
- Beach Volleyball Tournament (Late July): A weekend tournament on the central stretch of Alassio beach, with teams from across northern Italy competing on temporary courts set up on the sand. Free to watch, with beach bars extending their hours and DJ sets in the evenings.
- Ferragosto (15 August): The climax of the Italian summer. Alassio celebrates with afternoon beach games, swimming races, and a massive fireworks display launched from a barge in the bay at around 10:30pm. Thousands line the lungomare and the beach. Restaurants are fully booked days in advance; reserve early.
Alassio Events and Festivals: Autumn and Winter
- Festa dell’Olio Nuovo (Mid-November): The new olive oil festival brings local frantoi (olive mills) from the hills around Alassio and Albenga into the town centre. Producers offer tastings of the freshly pressed taggiasca olive oil — green-gold, peppery, and intensely aromatic — on toasted bread for a few euros. Several restaurants create special olive oil menus pairing the new oil with local dishes. The festival runs over a weekend in the streets around Piazza Sant’Ambrogio.
- Natale ad Alassio (December weekends): The Budello and lungomare are strung with Christmas lights from early December. A small Christmas market sets up in Piazza della Liberta with wooden stalls selling Ligurian food products, crafts, and vin brule (mulled wine). The town runs a children’s programme with a carousel and Santa visits on weekend afternoons.
- Capodanno (31 December): New Year’s Eve brings a concert on the seafront with fireworks at midnight. Hotels offer cenone packages (80 to 150 euros per person) including a multi-course dinner, live music, and a midnight toast. The seafront bars stay open until 2am.
