late June in Turin

June in Turin is one of the top  months to visit because you, amici from out of town, can enjoy our fully working city when some of the locals have already left for the summer!

the fruit you can buy at our market at the end of June

It is indeed rather nice to have piazzas and museums all to yourselves as well as all the shops open, however, we highly recommend you always check in advance the museums you are planning to visit aren't sold out... 

Some parts of Italy are going through a heatwave but lucky us, Turin enjoys a nice continental weather and temperatures are still reasonable: no a/c needed and we are still using a blanket at night, yet, we can enjoy our aperitif or a dinner out with friends and family.

We are leaving asparagus season to enter our ramassin one for only 5 weeks. To taste these amazingly aromatic tiny plums you do need to come over to Piedmont because you won't find them anywhere else in Italy. And if you can, amici, stock up on them so you can enjoy them also when they are not in season.

This year, lots of things are happening in the last week of the June! First of all there will be our St John's Day celebrations aka Turin's 4th of July and right after that, we'll have the Torino Fashion Week.  

As per tradition there will be a parade in historical costumes, a bonfire and the fireworks and this year many other events have been organized too: concerts, regattas on the river, parades of historical carriages like in Bridgerton, Bersaglieri and so much more!

On June 23rd, at 6:30pm there will be the parade in historical costumes and at 10pm the bonfire in Piazza Castello. 

The parade is really a gem if you love fashion, history and folklore; while parading through the main streets of the Turin's historical downtown, you can admire how Italian fashion has changed across the centuries, from the Middle Ages to WW2. 
Among the participants there is always the plague doctor wearing his beak mask, a WW1 ambulance with paramedics, and quite some Renaissance aristocrats and paesants from some of our many Piedmont valleys. 

The Peruvian community also takes part into this parade with their own costumes. 

Then at 10pm, in Piazza Castello the bonfire will reveal how the next 6 months will be like for Turin. On top of the bonfire there is a bull - symbol of Turin - and according to the direction it falls down towards, it will be  a good or a bad omen.

On June 24th, all eyes will be at the Valentino Park for a new parade before moving over to Piazza Vittorio at 10:30pm, to enjoy the fireworks over the River Po aka the Italian Mississippi, because it is the longest Italian river.

Then starting on June 27-29th Turin will host the 9th edition of the Torino Fashion Week. This an international fashion event to allow new and innovative fashion brands and designers take off. The 2024 theme is sustainability and inclusion and the protagonists of this edition will be the Turin fashion students, international (special guests from Cuba and Lithuania), our own Turin designers, brands and companies. 

As our May and part of June have been rainy we are desperate for being outdoors; if you wonder where you can find respite in nature while in Turin always remember that Piedmont offers great mountain hikes - reachable by train too, a glorious Nationl Park - Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, the very first national park in Italy - many pictoresque lakes and the many parks make of Turin the Italian city with the highest % of green areas!

Don't forget that Turin is surrounded by hills and the Savoy Hunting Palace of Venaria with its beautiful park is our small Versailles. This is especially nice in August when the park is open till 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays and lots of events are organized: apertifs, shows, live music, dj sets and candles will light up the garden in perfect Bridgerton style.

Finally, should the heat become unreasonable, we recommend you shelter in one of our many museums with A/C. The National Cinema Museum hosted inside Mole Antonelliana is one of the best thanks to its many chaises longues under the dome where old black and white movies are projected on. 

Also our cafés swap their winter heaters for refreshing ice sprinklers. 

We remind you all to always carry with you some mineral supplements and to go to any pharmacy in Turin should you need any medical assistance.

Mole Antonelliana: impressive National Cinema Museum

E-mail Lucia: turinepi@gmail.com 

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