Festa dell'Olio

The Festa dell'Olio (Olive Oil Festival) at Cisano di Bardolino celebrates the arrival of the new-season Lake Garda extra virgin olive oil each November — a harvest festival marking the pressing of the Garda DOP olives (Casaliva, Frantoio, and Leccino cultivars) grown on the eastern Veronese shores. The event is centred on the Museo dell'Olio d'Oliva (Olive Oil Museum) at Cisano, one of Italy's finest specialist food museums, and involves tastings of the new oil, bruschetta, local food pairings, and guided visits to the olive groves and mill. The Garda DOP olive oil — produced in a microclimate unusually warm for northern Italy, and recognised for its mild, delicate character distinct from southern Italian oils — is one of the lake's most valuable gastronomic products. The festival provides the best opportunity to taste it at optimal freshness.