Period: last weekend of March and first weekend of November at Villa Giulia

The Spring Camellia Show (last weekend of March) attracts an international public who flock to Verbania to visit the floral displays, and to participate in all the scheduled activities (guided tours of the gardens with the camellia collections, conferences and shows).

The Winter Camellia Show (first weekend of November) is of more recent origin, and is an exclusive event of its kind that attracts many visitors due to its uniqueness: floral arrangements and flower gardens in late autumn. This event is also an opportunity to promote Lake Maggiore’s new tea crops: Camellia sinensis being the plant from which tea is produced.

Period: Tulip Festival in April – Dahlia Show from July to the end of October

Tulip Festival

Since 1957, the Villa Taranto Botanical Gardens have celebrated this extraordinary horticultural event where 80,000 bulbous plants from 70 different varieties bloom to herald the arrival of spring. The main attraction of this festival is undoubtedly the Tulip Labyrinth, a winding path of circa 400 meters, in which the visitors find themselves immersed in a unique and uplifting atmosphere created by the stunning and seductive hues of the tulips.

Dahlia Show

From the last ten days of July until the end of October, the Labirinto delle Dahlie (Dahlia Labyrinth) enchants visitors with a wonderful display of over 1,700 flowering plants divided into over 350 varieties, in a play of incomparable colours, dimensions and shapes that magnificently celebrates why dahlias are known as the ‘flower of all flowers’.

Period: all year round

Since its inauguration in June 2016, the Il Maggiore Events Center has offered a rich cultural program that ranges from prose to dance, from musicals to opera.

Big names have graced its stage, such as Anastasia, Ornella Vanoni, Ermal Meta, Rocco Papaleo and Alessandro Haber, Michele Placido, Lella Costa, Marco Baliani, Alessio Boni and many others.

The training of the youngest is fundamental for the Center. Training projects dedicated to schools have been created, thanks to students, from educational institutions , have put on theatrical and dance performances with professionals in the sector.

Period: January – May

Since its inauguration in 1986, the Lampi sul loggione theatre season has consistently staged innovative works that has enabled it to attract and nurture a loyal audience. It is also closely involved in numerous support initiatives such as meetings, seminars, public engagement roles, and significant collaboration with the academic community.

Period: September

The Editoria & Giardini publishers book fair was established in 2001 upon the initiative of the Municipality of Verbania, and is a popular annual event based on the concept of ‘books & gardens’. Indeed, the cornerstone of the event is the Salone del libro horticultural book fair, held against the elegant backdrop of the 19th century Villa Giulia, which presents a selection of over 3,000 Italian and foreign titles on the theme of gardens and the botanical heritage of the local area.

The fair runs alongside a varied programme that includes a series of initiatives aimed at opportunities for in-depth study, training or entertainment: meetings, conferences, book presentations, workshops, guided tours, art and documentary exhibitions, readings and concerts in the parks.

Over the course of the various editions, it has been able to count on prestigious collaborations from scholars, bodies, foundations, institutes and national cultural associations.

Period: end of August

Since 1992, this yearly narrative theatre event has been held in the small historic village of Cavandone, a splendid panoramic location set against the backdrop of the Borromean Gulf. In different areas of the village, nestled amongst the ancient stone houses, the varied theatrical shows are staged in conjunction with professional actors.

Period: May – June

Since 2012, the CROSS Festival has commendably combined the promotion, development and production of projects in the sphere of contemporary performative languages.

In parallel with the festival, the international CROSS Award is annually presented for debuting innovative formats in the field of performing arts that aim to stimulate artistic investigation and expression on the borderline between languages, preferring interdisciplinary styles and genres.

CROSS Residence is a programme of artistic residencies committed to the relationship between cultural heritage, creative arts and the city, also by directly involving residents, specific targets audiences and vulnerable members of the community, with the re-inhabitation of urban and naturalistic spaces together with unusual private venues.

Period: July – September

Since 1962, the Stresa Festival has been a major event on the panorama of the European classical and jazz music festival circuit. Italian and foreign symphony orchestras, ensembles and internationally renowned soloists are the cornerstone of the event which, with the aim of involving the new generations, has now added other musical genres and forms of expression and artistic disciplines such as dance, cinema, literature and multimedia.

Period: February – December

For several decades, the Cinecircolo has successfully screened the “Metti una sera al cinema” (A Night at the Cinema) festival during the winter months with the aim of promoting cinematographic culture in the city. Thanks to the collaboration with the Terre Alte association, during the summer season the cinema now reaches new altitudes with screenings under the stars and in the piazzas of Verbano’s hilltop villages.

Period: October – November

The Lake Maggiore National Polyphonic Choral Competition is organized by the Piedmont Choirs Association, which is based in Verbania and has 250 associated choirs with a total of over 9,000 singers.

Every year, choirs from all over Italy participate in the competition, performing in the city’s churches, at Villa Giulia (the competition’s official venue) and at the Il Maggiore theatre. With a view to enhancing the local choral and musical traditions, a section of the competition is now reserved for contemporary pop choirs.

Period: end of July, beginning of August

Organised by the Ceretti Civic Library, between July and August, the Allegro con Brio event offers an extensive programme of cultural events on Lake Maggiore.

The varied programme, to suit all tastes, features musical evenings, dance and theatre performances, workshops and book presentations with writers; a wonderful stage for the best of Verbania’s artistic, cultural and entertainment scenario.

Period: August - October - December

Since 2015, the Festival di Percussioni Poliritmica has been organized by the Ente Musicale Verbania and the Waikiki Percussion Orchestra. Many free concerts are held in the piazzas and in Verbania’s most characteristic locations, accompanied by equally interesting and varied workshops for children, enthusiasts and beginners plus specific masterclasses for those who have already commenced studying percussion.

Period: September

The aim of the festival, founded in 2007, is to endorse mountain, travel and adventure literature with a view to promoting the knowledge, rediscovery and enhancement of the region. Every year the festival is inspired by a given theme and, in the numerous previous editions, it has seen the presence of many prestigious guests, amongst many: Francesco Guccini, Neri Marcore, Erri De Luca, Marco Malvaldi, Vito Mancuso, Ermanno Olmi, Folco Quilici, Luca Mercalli, Simone Moro and Reinhold Messner.

Period: June

Thanks to the collaboration between the Municipality of Verbania, the Goffredo and Maria Bellonci Foundation of Rome and the Il Maggiore Event Center Foundation, since 2018 the five finalists of this literary award have been presented to the public in a highly successful event which is held in the Il Maggiore theatre.

Period: July

The festival was founded in 2007 to vaunt the artistic beauty of the stone quarries of Verbano, and nearby Ossola, as majestic and spectacular stone theatres. Today the festival’s highly successful format offers extremely engaging and exciting immersive experiences for the thousands of spectators who participate every year. International critics have rated Tones on the Stones as one of the most interesting and innovative projects on the European circuit

Since 2014, Tones on the Stones has also featured the revolutionary NEXTONES, a festival within a festival which, with its electronic music, digital arts and natural beauty attracts thousands of young Italians and foreigners to discover this area.

In 2022, the Festival was held in Verbania in the scenic white granite quarry of Montorfano, an important natural resource that has provided stone for many Italian and global architectural artifacts, including the columns of the Basilica of San Paolo in Rome.
A special event was also planned with the performance of an unreleased commissioned piece from Stewart Copeland (founder and drummer of the English rock band The Police) with immersive video-scenography designed by Monica Manganelli, the esteemed young Italian artist whose work has been nominated for an Oscar.