VEGenova Vegan Festival

VEGenova Vegan Festival returns for its fourth edition on 25-26 April 2026, moving to a new home at the majestic Villa Durazzo Bombrini in the Cornigliano district of Genoa (Via Lodovico Antonio Muratori 5). Founded by Giulia Cimarosti and Alice Cosso and now incorporated as VEGenova ETS, the festival has become the largest vegan event in Liguria and a fixture of the Italian spring festival calendar.

The relocation to Villa Durazzo Bombrini - an 18th-century noble residence originally designed by French military engineer Pierre Paul De Cotte - gives the festival a striking setting across both indoor salons and outdoor gardens. Both festival days run from 10:00 to 22:00, letting visitors drift between showcooking stages, conferences, a sprawling vendor market, and evening aperitivo-style tastings under the villa's trees.

Programming reflects VEGenova's hybrid identity as both food fair and advocacy event. Expect showcookings with Italian plant-based chefs, talks on nutrition, environment, and animal welfare, and panels with ethologists and nutritionists. The vendor area brings together Italian and international brands across vegan food, cosmetics, fashion, and eco-friendly crafts, alongside stalls from animal welfare organisations and sanctuaries. The AMIU partnership (Genoa's environmental agency) means the festival runs as a zero-waste event with strict compostable-packaging policies.

Admission is free, but organisers require free online registration through Eventbrite to manage capacity. The festival's location in Cornigliano makes it easy to reach via Genoa's municipal transport, and the area has good parking for visitors arriving by car. Beyond the programming, simply spending a spring weekend in the gardens of Villa Durazzo Bombrini - fully vegan, fully free - is reason enough to plan a Ligurian stop around this date. Contact: [email protected].