Lo pan ner: black bread in the villages

Rye black bread used to be baked once a year, then kept for months on wooden racks. Every autumn, the Lo pan ner festival relights the communal ovens. 2026 is the 11th edition.

Saturday 17 October: the village ovens

According to the Region, 72 ovens are lit in 52 municipalities of the Aosta Valley. Hundreds of volunteers knead, bake and sell the bread. Many villages add events of their own. Some enrich the dough with chestnuts, caraway or dried fruit.

Sunday 18 October: meet in Morgex

The final Aosta Valley day takes place in the old town of Morgex, from 10 am to 6 pm: bread displays, food market, bread sales, a competition, free workshops at 10 am and 2 pm, guided tours and a tethered hot-air balloon. On Saturday at 8.30 pm, a dinner devoted to black bread is prepared with chef Agostino Buillas.

A festival of the Alps

Lo pan ner reaches beyond the Aosta Valley. It also brings together communities in Piedmont, Lombardy, Switzerland (Valais and Graubünden) and the Bauges massif in Savoie. The festival grew out of an Italy–Switzerland Interreg project run by the Region since 2015.

Practical information

• Dates: Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October 2026.
• Where: in the communal ovens of many villages; final day in Morgex on 18 October, 10 am to 6 pm.
• Shuttle from Chamonix: on 18 October, departs 9.30 am, returns 5.30 pm, €15 return, booking required.

Black bread goes well with fontina.

Sources: ANSA; Nos Alpes.

Main photo: Patafisik & Elena Tartaglione, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.