RiVeg - Sagra Vegana di Rivalta

RiVeg is the first vegan sagra (traditional village food festival) ever staged in the province of Turin, debuting on Sunday, 29 March 2026 in Piazza Gerbidi - the big weekly market square at the heart of Rivalta di Torino. The event was championed by Veronica Bresciani, president of the non-profit Associazione Montessoricordi, and slots into the 39th Fiera di Primavera (Rivalta's historic Spring Fair), giving plant-based cuisine the same civic stage traditionally reserved for Piedmontese meat and dairy specialities.

The premise is deliberately subversive: take a format - the sagra - that Italians associate with tradition, conviviality, and hearty country cooking, and rebuild it around 100% plant-based ingredients. From 10:00 to 19:00 the piazza fills with vegan street food stands, pastries, savoury snacks, and artisan plant-based beverages including vegan wines via In Vino Vegan and craft beers from Birra Love. Confirmed vendors include Van Ver Burger, La Colazione di Sara, and a rotation of Piedmontese small producers.

Programming goes beyond tasting. Visitors can attend showcooking demonstrations led by plant-based chefs, meet health professionals for free informal consultations on plant-based nutrition, and watch screened excerpts from the documentary *Maledetti Vegani*. The tone is pitched at curious omnivores rather than committed vegans - Bresciani frames the event as *"un invito a sedersi allo stesso tavolo"* ("an invitation to sit at the same table") and designs the day to feel inclusive, accessible, and village-scale rather than niche.

Admission is free, and because RiVeg runs in parallel with the Fiera di Primavera, visitors get the full Italian piazza experience: stalls, market bustle, families, and live spring atmosphere. For anyone who wants to see how plant-based food can integrate into small-town Italian tradition rather than stand outside of it, the debut RiVeg is a landmark.