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AUTUMN TRADITIONS · DAY INTO NIGHT
An Italian harvest festival at a UNESCO villa, with songs after dark
Country crafts, Veneto food and an evening of Italian songs in Vicenza.
Spend an autumn day among traditional crafts and Veneto food at a UNESCO listed Palladian villa, with songs and storytelling continuing at the town’s theatre after dark. The celebration takes its name from corn husking, a harvest task that once brought neighbours together to work, eat and sing. [1][2]
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Know before you go
Why is it called Scartosada? ↓ / Traditional crafts and Veneto food ↓ / A villa painted with parties ↓ / Italian songs after dark ↓ / PLAN YOUR VISIT ↓
WHY IS IT CALLED SCARTOSADA?
La Scartosada at Villa Caldogno, about ten kilometres from Vicenza in northern Italy, takes its name from corn husking, removing the outer leaves from maize cobs. Families and neighbours gathered for the work, sharing food, stories and songs afterwards, sometimes ending with dancing. That connection between the harvest and an evening together is the tradition behind this Italian autumn festival. [2][3]
TRADITIONAL CRAFTS AND VENETO FOOD
The 2026 programme brings more than 120 artisan stalls to the festival, alongside demonstrations of old trades by Le Arti per Via, a group from Bassano del Grappa that reconstructs the working life of Italian streets around 1900. [2][4]
Their repertoire includes knife grinders, chair weavers, umbrella repairers and makers of clay whistles. The costumes, tools and gestures come from research into photographs, historical material and the memories of older generations. Watching those familiar objects being made or repaired gives the afternoon much of its character. [4] For lunch, the announced menu includes rigatoni with duck and a Veneto cold platter with fried polenta, bringing the harvest’s central ingredient back to the table. [2]
A VILLA PAINTED WITH PARTIES
The setting has its own history of sociability. Villa Caldogno belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage property “City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto”, and its attribution to Andrea Palladio is examined by the Palladio Museum. [1][5]
If you arrange an interior visit, look for the musicians, card players, banquet guests and invitation to dance painted by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo, a Renaissance artist working in Vicenza. The Web Gallery of Art documents all four scenes. Food, music and company were already subjects worthy of the villa’s walls in the sixteenth century. Confirm interior access separately when planning your festival visit. [6]
ITALIAN SONGS AFTER DARK
The evening continues at Teatro Gioia with Canzoni e storie in bianco e nero, “Songs and Stories in Black and White”, performed by Coro Magnificat. The announced programme features music associated with Quartetto Cetra and Bepi De Marzi. [2] These names reach beyond the local songbook. Quartetto Cetra brought jazz, swing and humour to Italian popular music and recorded the Italian choruses for Disney’s Dumbo, earning a congratulatory letter from Walt Disney, according to RAI. De Marzi, born in Vicenza province, composed Signore delle cime, a prayer for a friend lost in the mountains that subsequently spread to choirs around the world, as documented by the Quirinale. [7][8]
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Announced edition: Sunday 18 October 2026.
Daytime festival: 10:00 to 19:00.
Evening performance: 21:00 at Teatro Gioia. [2]
Check the next edition with Pro Loco Caldogno. Confirm concert admission, villa opening arrangements and any weather related changes before travelling.
Festival and villa enquiries
Pro Loco Caldogno
Telephone and WhatsApp: +39 345 9302084
Email: info@prolococaldogno.it
Daytime location
Villa Caldogno Via Zanella 3, 36030 Caldogno, Vicenza, Italy. [2][5]
Evening location
Teatro Gioia Via Torino 6, 36030 Caldogno, Vicenza, Italy.
Telephone: +39 340 0572206
Email: teatrogioiacaldogno@gmail.com