Salt Festival
Preview 2025
Salt Festival
from Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th September 2025
Cervia, Salt Warehouse Area
Four days dedicated to white gold with meetings, cultural meetings, exhibitions, markets and shows.
The ancient tradition of salt storage is renewed, transported today as in the past, on a ‘burchiella’ pulled along the banks of the canal, from the salt pans to the warehouses.
All scheduled events in the Festival are in Italian
Sapore di Sale - Salty Taste recalls the past of Cervia with street market stalls, exhibitions, shows, tasting sessions, and meetings.
Although nowadays salt is one of the most common ingredients on our table, in the past it used to be so rare and precious that people used to call it 'white gold' because it was fundamental for the preservation of food.
Therefore it is easy to imagine how Cervia was linked with this product and with its over 800 ha of saltpans.
The purpose of this event is to remember and celebrate Cervia's past and 'dedicate' a celebration to the precious salt, re-enacting the past traditions and proposing various themed attractions: exhibitions, historical re-enactment of the traditional salt delivery, music and performances.
Looking forward to the 2025 programme
find out what happened in the 2024 edition
Cervia and its salt
The leitmotif of the festival is salt, which gives flavour to food and human relations.
All the meetings are dedicated to the discovery of authentic products from Emilia Romagna and other regions such as Sicily, Sardinia, Lombardy and Campania.
The most exciting and evocative moment will, as always, be the arrival of the Burchiella (a typical local boat) with its load of salt produced in the Camillone saltpan, where harvesting still takes place in the traditional way.
On Saturday afternoon, 7th September at 4.30 p.m., the sound of the siren will be followed by the evocative historical re-enactment of the Rimessa del Sale (Armèsa de Sel).
The programme will start with the ribbon-cutting ceremony by the mayor of Cervia Mattia Missiroli on Thursday, 5th September at 7 p.m. on the port canal, aboard the boat Tre Fratelli in the setting of the fleet of historic boats of the ‘Mariegola delle Romagne’.
News and confirmations
Sardinia and Nobel Prize winner Grazia Deledda will be part of the recurring themes of this year's festival.
Under the banner of taste, the inaugural dinner on Thursday 5th September at the Officine del Sale restaurant where chef Dimitri Contessi will prepare a dinner with ChefToChef chefs dedicated to Romagna and Sardinian cuisine.
Under the San Michele Tower, old and new food trucks will be present, to taste pizza fritta (fried pizza) to tigelle (flat bread), from Parma ham to mortadella from Bologna, from anolini (pasta) to chopping boards.
The Italian Sommelier Association - AIS Romagna, will be there with its tasting stand every evening at 6 p.m. and will offer tastings of wines from the Romagna territory, in collaboration with the Consorzio Vini di Romagna
Click here for the detailed programme in Italian
Thursday 5th September
Tasting of Bufala Campana mozzarella with Cervia sweet salt.
Magazzino del Sale Torre, 6.15 pm
Places are limited and must be booked in advance by calling +39 339 4703606
Official inauguration of the Festival
Canal Harbour and Piazzale dei Salinari, 7.00 p.m.
Preview of Panettone al Sale Dolce di Cervia
Magazzino del Sale Torre, 7.15 p.m.
Places are limited and must be booked in advance by calling +39 339 4703606
Friday 6th September
Delta Park: Salt and Marinades Allied
Magazzino del Sale Torre, 5 p.m.
Places are limited and must be booked in advance by calling +39 339 4703606
From Nuoro to Cervia, Deleddian Menus. From Writing to the Table
Magazzino del Sale Torre, 6.30 pm
Places are limited and must be booked in advance by calling +39 339 4703606
Saturday 7th September
Armesa de Sel
Canal Harbour and Piazzale dei Salinari dock, 4:30 p.m.
Traditional historical re-enactment of the Rimessa del Sale with the arrival of the Burchiella from the salt pans and the ritual distribution of salt to the public.
The traditional baking of a Parmesan cheese.
Garibaldi Square, 9 p.m.
Spectacular traditional baking of Parmigiano Reggiano.
Sunday 8th September
Gastronomic Workshops dedicated to Bolognese Gastronomy
Magazzino del Sale Torre, from 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Limited places, max 30 people. Each tasting € 12.00, booking required +39 339 4703606
Appointments with photography
Exhibitions open from Sept. 5th to 8th
Cervia Sapore di Sale is organized by Cooperdiem in collaboration with Atlantide, enjoys the support of the Municipality of Cervia, the patronage of the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Province of Ravenna and the Po Delta Park.
When
from Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th September 2025
Luogo
Salt Warehouse Area
Cervia - Via Nazario Sauro, Piazzale dei Salinari
Official Tourist Information Site of Cervia