Name: Festa Italiana Gilching 2026
Start: 2026-07-10T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-07-12T00:00:00+00:00
Location: Marktplatz Gilching

Festa Italiana

About Festa Italiana

Since 1992, Gilching in the district of Starnberg has celebrated its partnership with the Tuscan town of Cecina every summer. The Festa Italiana transforms the market square into an Italian piazza for three days: Tarantella, Italian live bands, dancing, Tuscan specialties, espresso bars, a children's carousel, and a Sunday that begins with a Weißwurst breakfast, typically Bavarian, and ends with Italian hits.

Dates 10 Jul — 12 Jul 2026

Venue Gilching (09188)

Prices Free

Status —

Edition 2026

Festa Italiana — edition 2026

From July 10 to 12, 2026, the Cecina-Gilching Association will once again transform Gilching's market square into an Italian piazza. Three days of live music from Italy, Tuscan specialties, a family program, and the traditional Weißwurst breakfast on Sunday will characterize the Festa Italiana.

The Festa Italiana Gilching 2026 will take place from Friday, July 10, to Sunday, July 12, 2026, on the Gilching Market Square. The program follows the proven three-day rhythm with an opening on Friday afternoon, a concert and dance evening on Saturday, and a classic Sunday with Weißwurst breakfast and an evening finale.

The Cecina-Gilching Association has already entered the 2026 dates into the Gilching municipality's event calendar. The detailed program will be announced shortly before the festival on cecina-gilching.de, as it was in 2025.

Highlights Festa Italiana 2026

Italian live music on all three evenings
Tuscan specialties from wine to delicacies
Bavarian-Italian Weißwurst breakfast on Sunday
Children's program with carousel, craft stations, and walk-acts

Programme Festa Italiana 2026

Planned Program Outline

Friday, July 10, 2026 — 4:00 PM to 12:00 AM
- 4:00 PM — Opening of stalls with Italian specialties and international drinks
- 5:00 PM — Official opening by Gilching's First Mayor, followed by dance performances by the Gilching Dance Center
- Evening — Edelweiß Marching Band and Italian live band on the main stage
Saturday, July 11, 2026 — 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM
- Program around the partnership sculpture Paci Dictatum 2.0
- In the evening, concert with Italian live band, dancing in the market square
Sunday, July 12, 2026 — 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
- 11:00 AM — traditional Weißwurst breakfast with brass band and pub music
- Afternoon — Italian hits, children's program
- Evening — closing concert with Italian live band
Children's Program on all three days: crafts, walk-acts, carousel, target games, lucky dip

Prices Festa Italiana 2026

Free admission. Food, drinks, and individual family attractions are paid for at the stalls.

Practical information

Practical information — Festa Italiana

Getting There

Gilching is located on the S-Bahn line S8 (Munich Airport – Herrsching). It's a short walk from the Gilching-Argelsried S-Bahn station to the market square. By car, take the A 96 (exit Oberpfaffenhofen) or the B 471.

Admission

Free admission. Food and drinks are paid for at the stalls at the respective prices indicated.

Tip

If you want to enjoy the Italian atmosphere in peace, come on Saturday afternoon — Sunday is family day, and on Friday evening, it's busiest at the start.

A Partnership That Became a Tradition

The town twinning between Gilching (Starnberg district, Upper Bavaria) and Cecina (Tuscany) originated in 1989. Just three years later, the Cecina-Gilching Association invited people to the first Festa Italiana — today one of the most enduring intercultural events in Munich's west.

Italian Market with Bavarian Roots

On the market square in Gilching's center, everything transforms into a small piazza for three days: stalls with Tuscan specialties, wine and espresso bars, Italian live music, dancing, and a family program characterize the event. In 2025, the festival featured the unveiling of the renovated partnership sculpture Paci Dictatum 2.0 in the presence of Cecina's mayor, Lia Burgalassi, as a special highlight.

Program Pillars of Every Festa

Opening on Friday with the First Mayor, dance performances, and Italian live music
Concerts and Dance Evenings on Saturday with Italian bands
Sunday Tradition: joint Weißwurst breakfast, organized by the Cecina Association, with brass band and pub music — and thus the typical Upper Bavarian welcome to the Italian guests
Children's Program throughout all three days: crafts, walk-acts, carousel, target games, lucky dip

Cecina, Tuscany, and Munich's West

The Festa Italiana is also a political statement: it shows how a formal town twinning can lead to a vibrant culture between two communities. Anyone familiar with the Upper Bavarian west of Munich knows: many Italo-Bavarians live here, working in the IT cluster or research around Oberpfaffenhofen — the Festa regularly brings them and all Italy lovers together on the market square.