Piedmont‘s Risò international rice festival, combining agriculture, history and landscape, will make Vercelli the hub of Italy and Europe’s rice-growing heritage from 12 to 14 September.
Rice is the symbol of Piedmont and its traditions
With a dense programme of experiential routes, themed exhibitions, educational activities, and cultural initiatives that enhance the Piedmont area, the fulcrum of the event will be the Village, a 13,000 m2 exhibition area in Vercelli’s Piazza Antico Ospedale. The Talk Area, in the Salone Dugentesco, will host thematic panels related to the world of rice and completing the experience will be the Food Area, the Recreational Area and the Reflections of Rice Area, which will host an immersive exhibition on rice which is the symbol of Piedmont and its traditions. 
Risò Tour Vercelli
“The public will be immersed in an authentic and engaging tale”
“Thanks to visual installations, videos, sounds, tactile materials and evocative settings the public will be immersed in an authentic and engaging tale. There will be numerous cultural events, enriched by a selection of themed films and audiovisual materials,” says Davide Gilardino, president of the province. 
Six guided theme tours
Agriculture, culture and landscape will intertwine in six guided theme tours at the Risò Festival in which the rice fields reveal themselves to be the guardians of ancient stories and witnesses of a living rural civilisation. Medieval and Sacred Vercelli and Vercelli Terra d'Acque are the city's guided tours. Grange, Tenute, Mulini del Vercellese: where rice is born, where memory lives is an excursion between history and tradition. La Baraggia Vercellese tra Castelli e Monasteri leads to the discovery of the wild lands of Baraggia with castles and monasteries. A journey into the heart of the Vercelli area among ancient traditions, estates and villages reveals a Vercelli area of small villages and rice fields, while the tour Mosaic of frescoes in the Vercelli area, will feature the cutting of rice and the traditional and modern techniques used in this proces.
Fringe events for all ages
RisòFF is the Fuori Festival fringe event that will enhance creativity and collective culture through exhibitions, workshops for children and families, performances, sports events, experiential itineraries, and urban installations. Participation at Piedmont’s Risò Festival is free, but with compulsory booking.
