Vintage and brand clothing, jewellery and precious objects, but also furniture of some years back and craft objects that you would have never imagined to find on the stalls of a market. All this at affordable prices.
Christmas is coming: it’s time for us to begin to draw up the list of people to give a gift to. Every year it is a drama and no one leaves this battlefield unscathed. You have to rack your brain to find the perfect gift, which has to be nice but not too much expensive. There is the risk to be swallowed up by the Saturday afternoon’s traffic, maybe to be overwhelmed by the crowd in a shopping centre, or to spend sleepless nights glued to the computer for some e-commerce.
Good thing that during the last years the trend of vintage and handmade has caught increasingly on in Italy, giving life to new realities, and even if they are rather recent, they have become an excellent opportunity to meet and know each other, to exchange ideas or just to shake hands.
For this reason, I have prepared a list of the best vintage & handmade Christmas markets in Emilia-Romagna, where you can enjoy your Christmas shopping days and find exclusive and unique presents.
Place: Cesena | Via Cesare Battisti 46
Time: from Monday, 25 November to Tuesday 24 December from 10am to 7.30pm
Admission: free
A space in the heart of Cesena managed by local artists and artisans. If you are looking for an unusual Christmas present, which eyes up at the design and handcraft, our advice is to pop up to this temporary shop: a real experience for all lovers of self-produced design.
Place: Cervia | Magazzini del Sale – Via Nazario Sauro, 1
Time: on Saturday, 30 November from 15pm to 11pm and on Sunday, 1 December from 10am to 8pm
Admission fee: 3€
The Gipsy Garden in three words? Quality, Magic, Experience. 47 creative spokespersons of Made in Italy quality craftsmanship are waiting for you in the Magazzini del Sale of Cervia. To make this event even more magical, artistic performances, musical moments and so many delicious things to eat and drink.
Place: Boretto (Reggio nell’Emilia)| Cattedrale del Po, Via Argine 11
Time: on Saturday, 30 November from 12pm to 9pm and Sunday, 1 December from 10am to 9pm
Admission: free
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The charm of the Great Po River is the scenery flat on which the first edition of the Heartmade & Handmade Market takes place. The beautiful event will be host inside the Cattredale del Po, an ex-building site of the Civil Engineering (Boretto), a place full of charm and history that for Christmas brings together the best creatives, artisans, and designers of the area.
Place: Piacenza | Arcades of Piazza Cavalli (Saturday, 1 December) and Auditorium Sant’Ilario – Via Garibaldi 17 (Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 December)
Time: on Saturday 1 December from 11am to 7pm; on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 December from 10am to 8pm
Admission: free
A/Mano Market is the handmade and creativity festival in Piacenza since 2011. This market is a good opportunity to find exclusive objects, especially in view of Christmas, from dressmaking to items all kinds, including jewellery or furniture pieces. It represents also an excellent meeting point for young designers and artisans of the surroundings and not. It is a very dynamic social space enriched by music performances and appetizing food stands.
Place: Rimini | Museo della Città – Via Luigi Tonini, 3
Time: on Friday, 6 December from 3pm to 10.30pm, on Saturday and Sunday 9 December from 10am to 10.30pm
Admission against payment
Also this year Matrioska pushes the boat for its #15th edition, the Christmas edition, moving to the Museo della Città in the heart of Rimini. In this wonderful venue more than 80 exhibitors, like artists and artisans with great manual skills, will show you their ideas and latest creations. Everything is even more suggestive thanks to a series of collateral events animated by music, performances, exhibitions, workshops, aperitifs and much fun.
Place: Ravenna | Artificerie Almagià – Via dell’Almagià 2
Time: on Saturday 7 from 3pm to 9pm; on Sunday, 8 December from 10am to 7pm
Admission: free
Going to Ravenna in the City Dock area. we arrive at the Almagià. Inside the Almagià – a polyvalent space that once was a warehouse of sulphur – returns the usual meeting with Garage Sale, also this year in a special Christmas version.
It is a friendly temporary shop, perfect if you are in search of vintage or secondhand objects, but also if you like to spend an amusing day with your friends among music, quality food, and artistic installations. Attention is given to the younger too with the project “Nati per Leggere” and with a Swedish Lab dedicated to Christmas beads.
Dove: Bologna | Zoo, Strada Maggiore 50/A
Quando: on Saturday, 7 and Sunday, 8 December and on Saturday, 14 and Sunday, 15 December from 11am to 6pm
Ingresso: free
Riding a bicycle, we move to Bologna and reach the ZOO Store in Strada Maggiore. Also this year this very interesting store in the historic center will try to amaze its visitors with the highest level products designed by the best designers, makers, illustrators, dreamers, and inventors.
All-around twenty exhibitors will transform the Uovo Market Xmas Edition in the perfect place where to find the right Christmas gift, all framed by good food and excellent music.
Place: Forlimpopoli | Piazza Pompilio
Time: on Saturday 21 December, from 3pm to 8pm; on Sunday 22 December from 10am to 7pm
Admission: free
After the appointment in Ravenna, the Garage Sale – one of the most beautiful temporary shops in Romagna – leaves the ex-Byzantine capital of the mosaic and moves towards Forlimpopoli for the arrival of Christmas. The formula is always the same, only the location changes.
What to expect? Vintage and second-hand objects, excellent music listening, quality food and many art installations.
