There's great anticipation in Pavia for the fifth edition of Horti Aperti - Festival, dedicated to greenery in the city, scheduled for Saturday, September 19th and Sunday, September 20th, 2026. Building on last year's success, which attracted over five thousand visitors, the event organized by the Associazione Ticinum Festival and the Fondazione Horti dell'Almo Collegio Borromeo is growing this year, doubling its offerings, and confirming its position as one of Italy's leading hubs for landscape culture and responsible gardening.
The theme chosen for 2026, ''Art and Manner. The Intelligent Garden, Designed with Passion and Cultivated with Care,'' perfectly expresses the festival's dual spirit: its ability to bring knowledge (beauty and scientific dissemination) into dialogue with know-how (the manual skills and experience of those who cultivate the land).
Preview and the Big News for 2026
The Horti Aperti journey will actually begin on Friday, September 18th at 9:00 PM with a special opening evening at the University of Pavia Botanical Garden, the oldest in Lombardy. Here, communicator and photographer Francesco Tomasinelli will guide the audience through the lecture-performance ''Nothing is as it seems,'' dedicated to the fascinating world of camouflage in nature.
This weekend, the festival will come to life in the splendid setting of the Parco Horti del Collegio Borromeo, a unique space where biodiversity meets contemporary art installations by masters such as Arnaldo Pomodoro and David Tremlett. This year, the festival boasts a special guest: renowned author and host Licia Colò, the most influential figure in ecological education in Italy for forty years. On Sunday morning, Licia Colò will meet the public and, for the occasion, the new 'Licia Colò' rose will be officially christened, a sustainable and hardy variety created by organic hybridizer Adriana Balzi.
The truly major logistical innovation of this edition is the debut of ''Orto da Coltivare,'' a new area entirely dedicated to hands-on workshops and live lessons. Created in collaboration with Solabiol, this space will host the most followed green communicators on social media-such as Matteo Cereda, Pietro Isolan, Botanic Bea, L'Amico delle Piante, and the founders of Bosco di Ogigia-ready to teach practical tips on orchard care, organic garden management, and sustainable balcony management.
Great guests and an excellent exhibition-market
Alongside practical activities, there will be plenty of space for reflection in the now traditional Agorà del Pensiero. Opening the weekend's meetings will be internationally renowned plant neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso, a longtime guest of the festival, who this year will share his ''botanical monotypes.'' Other notable guests include landscape architect Andreas Kipar, who will discuss Nature Positive cities and climate resilience; host Tessa Gelisio with her new book on Green Jobs; writer Tiziano Fratus; veterinarian Monica Pais; and chemist Giorgio Volpi.
For green shopping enthusiasts, Horti Aperti is a premier market-fair with around 50 exhibitors from across Italy. The selection is rigorous: only nursery gardeners, botanical collectors, and artisans who grow their own products directly, offering visitors the opportunity to purchase rare plants, unusual collections, and traditional varieties from the Pavia area directly from the producers. Finally, there will be activities for the whole family: children's workshops organized by the Feltrinelli Foundation and innovative eco-tuning (eco-psychology) sessions led by Roberta Spoleto.
Buy your ticket quickly! For those who book early, there's a 2-for-1 promotion available on the official website until September 5th, allowing you to purchase two full-price tickets for the price of one (€10 total).
Discover the complete program.
The theme chosen for 2026, ''Art and Manner. The Intelligent Garden, Designed with Passion and Cultivated with Care,'' perfectly expresses the festival's dual spirit: its ability to bring knowledge (beauty and scientific dissemination) into dialogue with know-how (the manual skills and experience of those who cultivate the land).
Preview and the Big News for 2026
The Horti Aperti journey will actually begin on Friday, September 18th at 9:00 PM with a special opening evening at the University of Pavia Botanical Garden, the oldest in Lombardy. Here, communicator and photographer Francesco Tomasinelli will guide the audience through the lecture-performance ''Nothing is as it seems,'' dedicated to the fascinating world of camouflage in nature.
This weekend, the festival will come to life in the splendid setting of the Parco Horti del Collegio Borromeo, a unique space where biodiversity meets contemporary art installations by masters such as Arnaldo Pomodoro and David Tremlett. This year, the festival boasts a special guest: renowned author and host Licia Colò, the most influential figure in ecological education in Italy for forty years. On Sunday morning, Licia Colò will meet the public and, for the occasion, the new 'Licia Colò' rose will be officially christened, a sustainable and hardy variety created by organic hybridizer Adriana Balzi.
The truly major logistical innovation of this edition is the debut of ''Orto da Coltivare,'' a new area entirely dedicated to hands-on workshops and live lessons. Created in collaboration with Solabiol, this space will host the most followed green communicators on social media-such as Matteo Cereda, Pietro Isolan, Botanic Bea, L'Amico delle Piante, and the founders of Bosco di Ogigia-ready to teach practical tips on orchard care, organic garden management, and sustainable balcony management.
Great guests and an excellent exhibition-market
Alongside practical activities, there will be plenty of space for reflection in the now traditional Agorà del Pensiero. Opening the weekend's meetings will be internationally renowned plant neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso, a longtime guest of the festival, who this year will share his ''botanical monotypes.'' Other notable guests include landscape architect Andreas Kipar, who will discuss Nature Positive cities and climate resilience; host Tessa Gelisio with her new book on Green Jobs; writer Tiziano Fratus; veterinarian Monica Pais; and chemist Giorgio Volpi.
For green shopping enthusiasts, Horti Aperti is a premier market-fair with around 50 exhibitors from across Italy. The selection is rigorous: only nursery gardeners, botanical collectors, and artisans who grow their own products directly, offering visitors the opportunity to purchase rare plants, unusual collections, and traditional varieties from the Pavia area directly from the producers. Finally, there will be activities for the whole family: children's workshops organized by the Feltrinelli Foundation and innovative eco-tuning (eco-psychology) sessions led by Roberta Spoleto.
Buy your ticket quickly! For those who book early, there's a 2-for-1 promotion available on the official website until September 5th, allowing you to purchase two full-price tickets for the price of one (€10 total).
Discover the complete program.