The Alba Truffle Fair Guide 2025: Tickets, Prices, & Dates

Each autumn, an elusive fungus draws gourmets, travellers, and dreamers to Alba—the medieval town at the heart of the Langhe—for the International Alba White Truffle Fair, which attracts over 600,000 visitors annually.

This year, the fair takes place from 11th October to 8th December 2025, with the theme of “Deep Respect”, which invites visitors to explore both the truffle’s unique flavour and the culture, landscape, and traditions that sustain it.

If you’re planning to visit the Alba Truffle Fair in 2025, it’s essential to plan and book in advance. In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to start planning your trip.

But first, you might be wondering…

What’s So Special About White Truffles?

Well, it's the flavour, of course. While Martha Stewart describes the aroma as “oak, nuts, and sweet soil”, I find it more like a pungent musk with a strong garlicky smell and underlying tones of earth and mushrooms—but you'll have to visit and decide for yourself.

This humble tuber was valued between €3,500 and €4,000 per kilo in 2025—compared to €800-€1,500 for black truffles or €400-€700 for summer truffles.

The hefty price tag is due to its rarity: white truffles grow wild (and can’t be cultivated), have a short growing season (October to January), and require specific growing conditions and the right type of host trees—that just happen to be found in the hills around Alba.

Finding them is labour-intensive, and specialist trifulau—made famous by the 2020 documentary The Truffle Hunters—search the woods of the Langhe and Roero with trained dogs to unearth the precious delicacy.

The Alba Truffle Fair 2025: Dates, Tickets, & Prices

The Truffle Market will take place every weekend between 11th October and 8th December 2025 at the Cortile della Maddalena in Alba.

Tickets usually sell out, so booking in advance will help avoid disappointment. General admission costs €5 online (+ admin fees) or €6 offline.

Wine lovers should add the wine tasting coupon for an extra €9 online or €10 offline, which includes two glasses of Barolo or Barbaresco from the official tasting stand.

What to Do at the Alba Truffle Fair

The fair’s centrepiece is the Alba White Truffle World Market, where local trifulau showcase the season’s finds. But the fair celebrates Piedmontese cuisine in all its forms—from truffle-infused cheeses, pastas, and salami—as well as wine, hazelnut products, and local sweet specialities like torrone.

Truffle hunters and their families display their wares in the centre of the market and are eager to let you inhale the heady aromas. You'll also find the judges here, who will inspect any purchases you make to ensure they fit strict quality criteria.

Stallholders jostle for the attention of the crowds, and the best thing to do is wander around taking it all in while sipping on a glass Barolo or Barbaresco—a wine-tasting coupon gets you a real wine glass to take home—complete with a handy wine carrier you can hang around your neck for hands-free drinking.

Cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, and cultural events weave together tradition and innovation, ensuring there’s something for everyone—from seasoned gourmets to curious newcomers.

You can check the official website for the full programme of events, but below is a list of key dates to keep in mind as you plan your visit.

Alba Truffle Fair 2025: Key Events and Dates at-a-Glance

September

• Langhe Photo Festival: Every Saturday and Sunday from July 6th to November 2nd — €12
• Walking tour of Alba: Every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of September, €10
• Investiture of the Podestà: Saturday Sept 27th 8.30 p.m. Free admission

October

• Donkey Palio: Sunday Oct 5th 2 p.m. €20–25
• Alba White Truffle World Market: Every Saturday & Sunday (9.30 a.m.-7 p.m.) from Oct 11th-Dec 8th, €5 general admission
• Slow Food Earth Market: Every Sat & Sun (9.30 a.m.-7 p.m.) from Oct 11th-Dec 8th. Free admission
• Boroughs Bacchanal: Saturday Oct 18th 6 p.m.-12 a.m. and Sunday Oct 19th 10 a.m. — 7 p.m. Free admission
• Guided Tour & Traditional Lunch Roddi Castle: Every Sunday from Oct 12th (sold out at time of writing) to Sunday Dec 7th, 12.30 p.m. €65
• The great Terroir of Barbaresco and the other faces of Nebbiolo: Saturday Oct 25th & Sunday Oct 26th 11 a.m. €20

November

• Village of the Creators of Excellence: Saturday Nov 8th & Sunday Nov 9th 10 a.m.-7.30 p.m. Free admission
• World Alba White Truffle Auction: Sunday November 9th 2 p.m., Grinzane Cavour Castle. Private event by invitation

Gastronomic Experiences at the Alba Truffle Fair

Throughout the truffle fair, a variety of gastronomic experiences will be taking place. These include cooking shows and fine apéritif experiences, in which local chefs from some of the area’s many Michelin-starred restaurants demonstrate their skills, showcasing local dishes and ingredients.

…and yes, you do get to eat their creations.

Alternatively, if you want to give Piedmontese cooking a go for yourself, try the cooking classes held every Monday at Roddi Castle, or learn the secrets of Piedmontese pasta making, with classes on seven Saturdays during the fair.

Wine lovers can dive deep into Barolo, Barbaresco, and the diverse expressions of Nebbiolo with wine tasting experiences, while the truffle-curious can attend a truffle sensory analysis.

In the week leading up to October 24th, Barolo producers will be offering exclusive tastings of Barolo en primeur during the auction managed by Christie’s. You can find a list of participating wineries here — contact each winery individually to arrange a tasting.

Check the events calendar to see which experiences coincide with your visit.

Art, Music, and Sport at the Alba Truffle Fair

The attractions don’t stop at food and wine, though. Art lovers can enjoy a range of shows, including Valerio Berruti’s third iteration of his “More Than Kids” exhibition, a virtual reality tour of the Church of San Giovanni, and “Abetare”, the new permanent public installation by Petrit Halilaj.

If music’s more your thing, three concerts will take place during the fair:

• Laurent Boutros (classic, folk): Sunday, September 14th, 9 p.m.
• Krzysztof Kobyliński (jazz): Friday, October 10th, 9 p.m.
• “Virgo Lux Mundi” (medieval music in the Church of San Giovanni): Saturday, October 25th, 9 p.m.

For those feeling guilty after all that eating and drinking, you can take part in the “Corri Sotto le Torri” — an 8km or 4km race — on Sunday September 14th, while the sportiest among us can run the marathon or half-marathon on Sunday October 26th (and then cancel it out with a multi-course lunch).

Animal lovers should head to Alba for the Great Review of Piedmontese Cattle on Friday October 10th at 9.30 a.m. This bovine exhibition draws farmers from all over the Alba, Bra, Langhe, and Roero area.

Consult the full calendar of other events here.

Alba Truffle Fair for Kids

If you’re bringing little ones, you can drop them off at Alba Truffle Kids instead of dragging them to w̶h̶i̶n̶e̶ wine tastings.

Shifts run from 11 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday until Nov 23rd, and cost €5.

Beyond Alba: What to Do In Piedmont

Once you’ve experienced the truffle fair, you’ll probably want to spend a few days exploring the surrounding area — Langhe, Roero, and Monferrato — or the wider Piedmont region.

Wine tasting, truffle hunting, and vineyard tours are the main activities around Alba. However, if you’re looking for something different, you might head to Turin for an elegant city break, or to Lakes Orta and Maggiore for a quiet but picturesque alternative to Como.

Check out this guide to plan your trip to Piedmont.

A Brief History of the Alba Truffle Fair

The fair dates back to 1929, when Giacomo Morra sought to bring attention to the region’s truffles by showcasing them at the local harvest festival.

In 1933, the official Truffle Fair was inaugurated, and has since grown into an international festival that weaves together history, tradition, and community pride.

Alongside truffles, the fair preserves and reimagines Alba’s medieval spirit through folk celebrations and reenactments, like the Palio degli Asini — a playful donkey race — which parodies the noble horse races of the past.

The Investiture of the Podestà recreates the swearing-in of a medieval governor, while the Bacchanal of the Boroughs is a joyous occasion where food, wine, and music flow, and skilled sbandieratori (flag-throwers) add a flourish of colour, rhythm, and acrobatic artistry.

Visiting Alba this autumn? Check out this 3-day itinerary for truffles, wine, and fine dining.

Alba Truffle Fair 2025: Where Luxury Meets Sustainability

Piedmont is leading the way for sustainable luxury tourism in Italy, offering a model that’s rooted in respect for nature’s rhythms—as reflected by this year's theme of "Deep Respect".

Heading to Alba for truffle season? Treat yourself to a stay at one of these 10 beautiful luxury hotels in Piedmont’s wine country.

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