Aosta’s Sant’Orso’s traditional handicrafts fair: 30-31 January

An open-air workshop dedicated to traditional handicrafts

When winter embraces Aosta in its most authentic embrace, the historic centre once again lights up with voices, scents and lights. It happens every year at the end of January, when the city welcomes the Fair of Sant’Orso on 30 and 31 January, the most eagerly awaited and characteristic event in the Aosta Valley. Fornover a thousand years Aosta has transformed into a large open-air workshop dedicated to traditional handicrafts.

Choirs, folk groups, open cellars and convivial moments

The fair takes place in the heart of the city, along the pedestrian streets of the historic centre, where more than a thousand craftsmen from all over the region exhibit their works, an event that goes far beyond being a simple exhibition. In the night between 30 and 31 January, the veillà, the collective vigil that animates the streets until dawn, comes to life with choirs, folk groups, open cellars and convivial moments on a night when residents and visitors share music, stories, aromas and flavours.


Craftsmen work with wood, iron, copper, leather and fabrics

The roots of the Sant’Orso Fair lie in the figure of the saint after whom it is named. Orso of Aosta, a hermit who lived between the 4th and 5th centuries, is traditionally associated with charity and manual labour. Legend has him intent, on the coldest days of the year, on making wooden sabot clogs to give to the poor. The stars of the fair are the craftsmen. Each one has a different story with some who began as children carving wood for fun, those who learned the craft from their family, those who discovered it later as a passion that became a profession. Wood dominates the scene, but it is not the only material: stone, wrought iron, copper, leather, fabrics and natural fibres give shape to unique objects, the result of creativity and skill handed down from generation to generation.

A food and wine pavilion focuses on local flavours

From 29 January to 1 February, the town also hosts the Atelier des Métiers with the food and wine  pavilion rounding off the experience with artisan excellence and local flavours. The Sant’Orso Fair is not only an event, but a collective ritual that every winter renews the identity and memory of the Aosta Valley.

For information https://www.lasaintours.it/