Today, visitors who visit Alba and the hills of Langa have the opportunity to see and attend important cultural events related to the world of songwriting, jazz and chamber music.

In fact, two important events are hosted here in Alba and in the surrounding territory: the Alba Music Festival and the Alba Jazz Festival.

Generally held in the period between March and July of each year, the Alba Music Festival is today a veritable celebration of music, in a city that combines the dynamism of the international vocation, with a presence of more than 10,000 people each year. The Festival has become one of the most anticipated cultural reference points of the season, having the favour of the national and international press and is included in the City of Alba’s program of development, funded by the Piedmont Region, and included in the “Piemonte dal Vivo” circuit (Piemonte Live).

As the only Piedmontese Festival with international partnership, the Festival takes shape both   from the artistic and cultural relationship established between the City of Alba and St. Mary’s College of Maryland in the US, a prestigious college in Washington DC. The Festival stages concerts in the most illustrious places in Alba and the surrounding region in a way that takes full advantage of the evocative architecture of the entire area, such as the mirror-like stalls of Teatro Sociale, the thousand year old Church of San Domenico, the impressive Temple of San Paolo, to the refined Auditorium of Fondazione Ferrero. From the majestic atmosphere of the Cathedral to a more intimate baroque church such as San Giuseppe, Santa Caterina, or the Maddalena Choir, in addition to the many majestic castles scattered throughout the surrounding countryside, the various settings serve as idyllic backdrops for each concert. These churches bear witness to the art of the past, the historical wine cellars and the evocative corners of precious countryside: musical art in magical places of a beautiful part of Piedmont.

The Alba Jazz festival was created in the same spirit, with the aim of bringing jazz music and its unique sound to the streets and squares of Alba in the summer months, involving not only more and more inhabitants, but also, and more notably, the many tourists to the area, who love the opportunity to attend a great concert in some of the most beautiful areas of the city, perhaps tasting a good glass of red wine from the territory itself.

Among the artistic events and shows, we never forget the Burrattinarte International Puppet Theatre Festival. The festival was born from the idea of bringing street play to a reality such as that of the district Langhe-Roero and Monferrato, which are currently seeing new economic, social and touristic growth, sectors where this cultural opening has proved to be crucial.

The festival, which takes place in the streets, squares, gardens and courtyards of the various municipalities, proposes both street and stage performances from Italy and abroad, thanks to the relationship formed with other festivals and to a great care in the shows chosen to offer the highest-level performances. Included in the project is “Puppets without frontiers”, a transnational partnership between festivals of puppetry and street theatre involving organizations belonging to the whole territory of the Alps, from France to Slovenia, created to nurture a cultural network that has integration and interculturalism as common denominator. Burattinarte proposes the meeting with an ancient, culturally rich and fascinating art thanks to the wide variety of issues, traditions, and techniques used to create stories told using hand puppets, puppets, marionettes, bunraku and by the magical images created by the shadow play.