An Italian chocolate festival, open until midnight

Chocolate until midnight ↓ / Italian chocolate, one stall at a time ↓ / A book printed on cocoa paper ↓ / Chocolates for Canova and Kiefer ↓ / Daytime workshops and chocolate clues ↓ / Plan your visit↓

CHOCOLATE UNTIL MIDNIGHT

Save dessert for Piazza dei Signori. During CioccolandoVi, chocolate stalls fill this square in the historic centre of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy, and continue along Contrà Garibaldi. Saturday trading lasts until midnight, giving an autumn evening enough time for dinner, a walk and a second round of chocolate. [1][2] The Basilica Palladiana overlooks the market, placing the festival within Vicenza’s UNESCO World Heritage setting. Palladio’s architecture helped shape buildings across Europe and North America; here, its arcades are part of the view as you choose your next praline. [3]

ITALIAN CHOCOLATE, ONE STALL AT A TIME

The 2026 edition brings together 24 chocolatiers, with an assortment that includes pralines, chocolate bars, truffles, drinking chocolate and regional specialities. Look for gianduiotti, the small hazelnut chocolates associated with Piedmont, whose story Great Italian Chefs traces through the region’s confectionery tradition. Their smooth hazelnut centre offers a different pleasure from a piece of dark chocolate or a filled praline. [2][4] 

Several exhibitors also offer products suitable for vegan diets and people avoiding lactose. Ask each maker about the ingredients in the chocolates you choose. [2]

A BOOK PRINTED ON COCOA PAPER

Chocolate also supplies the material for an unusual book. Fave della buonanotte, loosely “bedtime cocoa beans”, is a small publication shaped like a chocolate bar, containing the beginnings of fairy tales for readers to complete. Each copy is numbered by hand and printed on Favini paper made using cocoa bean husks. [5]

The material has a story beyond the festival. The European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform documents Favini’s work with chocolatier Domori on Crush Cocoa, a paper that uses residues from cocoa processing as a partial substitute for wood pulp. [6] During CioccolandoVi 2026, the book is the subject of free creative play sessions at Fiabrica, Galleria San Lorenzo 16, including 21:00 to 23:00 on Friday and Saturday. It gives the evening a second destination, with stories to invent after browsing the chocolate stalls. [7]

CHOCOLATES FOR CANOVA AND KIEFER

Two exhibitors have created chocolates inspired by Italia Germania. Da Canova a Kiefer, the forthcoming exhibition in the Basilica Palladiana. Look for the creations of Davide Marcantognini and Cioccolateria Veneziana, led by brothers Francesco and Simone Mengo. These pieces were made specifically for CioccolandoVi 2026 as part of the exhibition’s wider cultural programme. [8] The exhibition itself opens in November, after the chocolate festival. [8]

DAYTIME WORKSHOPS AND CHOCOLATE CLUES

Arrive earlier for the children’s chocolate workshops inspired by Pinocchio’s Land of Toys, held at the Museo Diocesano on Saturday and Sunday. The sessions are free and require booking. In Piazza dei Signori, The Great Chocolate Escape adds a daytime puzzle game with clues and challenges in English. [7]

PLAN YOUR VISIT

The documented 2026 edition takes place from 23 to 25 October. Stalls close at 23:00 on Friday, midnight on Saturday and 20:00 on Sunday. Activities, exhibitors and opening times can change between editions. [1][7] Check the next edition of CioccolandoVi on the official website, including the evening programme and workshop reservations.

Save CioccolandoVi to your Vicenza travel wishlist and plan an autumn night around chocolate, books and Renaissance architecture.