Nestled in the Langhe region of Piedmont (Piemonte) you can find the small town of Bra. While the region is well-known for white truffle and high-quality red wines, I am visiting for something different: cheese. I recently had the chance to spend an entire day at the 2025 Cheese Festival hosted by Slow Food Italy. It is a bi-annual fest showcasing producers, stalls, tastings, and workshops centered all around cheese.
Slow Food Italy: A Global Movement with Local Roots
Slow Food Italy launched back in 1968 in Bra as a reaction and statement against fast food (read up on the controversial McDonald’s near the Spanish Steps) and the industrialization of food. Carlo Petrini, Slow Food’s founder, envisioned a movement that would protect regional cuisines, small-scale producers, and traditional and sustainable agricultural practices.
Over the decades, Slow Food has grown into an enormous international network with over 160 countries involved. The Slow Food network operates by launching projects (and events like this) that safeguard endangered foods, encourage biodiversity, and preserve artisanal methods. The Cheese Festival is one of its flagship events and brings together producers from all over the world to share their cheese-making craft while educating visitors about their process and traditions.
Introduction to the Cheese Festival
Arriving in Bra for this event is a full sensory experience from start to finish. As soon as I got off the train I could see (and smell) the cheese producer stalls lined up along the streets. In fact, nearly the entire historical center of Bra was shut down for this event – limited to pedestrian-only traffic. As I looked around, it felt like I was in the middle of an enormous open-air cheese market!
Every Cheese Fest has its own slogan and theme. 2025’s theme is “C’è un mondo interno,” or “There’s a World Around.” This means the focus of this year’s festival is not just about cheese, but also the entire ecosystem surrounding the cheese-making process! You can learn about the pastures, breeds of animals, wool, etc. The goal is to educate attendees to be mindful of the holistic process of everything that goes into making cheese.
Oh, and the best news? The Cheese Fest is completely free! Aside from a select number of paid or private workshops, the public can access all of the producer stalls full of yummy samples. Make sure to check out the Slow Food Italy website to stay in the loop on upcoming events in Italy or other countries.
Exploring the Cheese Festival
Walking through Bra you are surrounded by the blend of aromas from any and all types of cheese. I spent hours slowly moving from stall to stall while the producers fed me information about their delicious cheeses and then literally fed me samples to try. One aspect I really appreciated about this event is that no one was rushing through it. I didn’t see anyone grabbing as many samples as possible and then running off. Nearly everyone in the crowd took the Slow Food Italy mission to heart: slow down, learn, and enjoy understanding what you are eating and where it comes from.
An important mission of the event is shining the spotlight on small-scale producers. You’ll still see the big players in the cheese world attending, but it was nice to see the focus shifting on traditional cheese-making practices. Without the promotion of Slow Food Italy events like this, they may otherwise be endangered by large, industrial-scale standardization.
The entire experience feels immersive and communal. I found myself in the middle of conversations between a group of strangers and cheese producers discussing textures and flavors. I realized it was less like a market and more like an open-concept classroom!
A Workshop to Remember: Italian Cheese Meets Saudi Dates
In the afternoon Slow Food Italy invited me to attend one of the Cheese Festival workshops. The workshops are classroom-style events that embody the Slow Food Italy philosophy of connecting cultures through tastebuds. For instance, my workshop centered around pairing Italian cheeses with Saudi Arabian dates. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from this odd-sounding combination. However, as the tasting continued, the logic became clear.
Saudi Arabian Chef Naawaf Fallatah and Slow Food expert Francesca Baldereschi chose the pairings and led the workshop. In total we sampled 5 dates and 5 types of cheese. I’ll highlight a couple pairings we tried:
- Strong-flavored cheese, like Blue di Cuneo, pair well with soft, caramel-flavored dates like Mabroom.
- Macagn cheese paired with the freshest date, Barhi. This cheese is already quite complex at 2 months old (it reaches its peak at 5 or 6 months). It brings out the date’s firm yet buttery texture.
One of my favorite moments was when Chef Fallatah expressed the importance that everyone has a different palette. No one should shy away from tastings! Tastings should be a fun opportunity to explore and learn what you like. It was a wonderful experience.
Final Thoughts
I reluctantly caught the evening train back to Milan – it felt like the party was just getting started as I was heading out! Loud music and the faint smell of cheese disappeared into the background as my train pulled away from the station. It felt as if I experienced Slow Food Italy’s mission in action: savoring delicious cheese, connecting with artisans, and discovering unexpected pairings. The Cheese Festival reminded me that food is not just something to eat – it is a way to connect, build a community, and even have fun!
