The “Long Eat” in Trentino
On a warm September morning, my friends and I joined a large group of mostly locals in Volano, the starting point for the Magnalonga dell’Alta Vallagarina in the Trentino region. With our wine glasses in the cloth pouches around our necks and itineraries in hand, we headed out at 9:30 through the historic center of town, with a view of the Venetian Prealps guiding us to our first tasting post for coffee (or tea) and biscotti.
Mangialonga (or magna, the Venetian word, in this case) literally means “long” (longa) eat (mangia).” It’s a food and wine festival on foot. Even after four years of traveling around and now living in Italy, I had never heard of this, but thanks to Lisa Vogele, my brilliant genealogist, author, and Italy-obsessed friend (also 8th cousin twice removed, coincidentally), this Magnalonga in Trentino became the focal point of our four-day girls’ trip near Lake Garda. Lisa has written a book on Italian Food & Folklore festivals and had previously completed a Mangialonga in Levanto (you can read about it here). The rest of us were in for a surprise.
This Magnalonga took us through 10 kilometers of nature starting from Volano and ending in Calliano, with 9 tasting points along the way. The 2026 theme was “Secret Stories and Creatures of the Woods,” and, in between tasting points, as we wandered through the vineyard and forests, we encountered gnomes, artists, storytellers, and actors sharing with us the secrets and treasures of the land.
At tasting point two, after about a 30-minute walk through vineyards outside of the historic center of Volano, we arrived at an opening in the pine forest with dozens of picnic tables and a series of folding tables covered in burgundy Mangnalonga-branded tablecloths where handsome local men (this is objective journalism 😉) handed out plates of cooked speck with cabbage and fried potato patties that would rival any hash brown you’ve had in the States. More handsome men, brothers Bruno and Michele Mattè, stood ready with generous pours of Daeria Bianco IGP from their family-run Azienda Agricola Mattè that produces artisanal Trentino wines. Local band Pink e Basta serenaded us. One of the volunteers asked me how I was doing, and I told him that if the Magnalonga stopped right here and now, I would be happy. “Ma c'è molto di più!” (But there is so much more!) he told me as we headed off.
About 45 minutes later, after a gradual but mostly uphill climb, we realized that we had committed to a hike, not a stroll, so fuel was important. At Azienda Agricola Maso Salengo, we feasted on a generous portion of traditional barley risotto made with fresh local sausage and wine, accompanied by Maso Salengo’s Trentino DOC Pinot Grigio 2025. A duo serenaded us with an acoustic version of Shawn Mendes’s “Stitches.”
Through the vineyards, past a pen of friendly goats, and into the woods we went with a quick stop for sambuco juice and later a snack of fresh local apple slices to hold us over until stop number 6, where a selection of asiago cheese and honey awaited us to be paired with Cantina Vivallis’ rose. The cheerful tunes from the handsome (there’s a theme here, ladies!) accordion player tucked into the vines gave us the boost we needed for the steep climb back to the trail, where we had a panoramic view over the valley.
After a 30-minute hike, as we reached the end of the forest trail on the back side of Calliano’s Castel Pietra, a theater group greeted us. Dressed as woodland creatures and witches, they provided a lesson on the importance and privilege of protecting this beautiful nature that nourishes us.
We walked around the castle and down the hill. Since the castle was closed for a private event, we couldn’t take a tour, but they offer guided tours with a reservation, and there’s an option to do a tour + tasting for 10 euros.
Sitting at a picnic table under a tent at the base of the castle, we sipped on Marzemino Trentino from Azienda Agricola Salizzoni and had our final plate of food–thinly sliced grilled pork with roasted potatoes and salad–before the walk to the center of Calliano, the end point of the Magnalonga.
It felt like a party with the DJ playing 80s rock, so we decided to dance before walking the last kilometer or two. “Where are you from?” one of the volunteers asked us, as we were the only ones dancing, and the DJ gave us a shout-out.
The dancing would continue at stop number 8, but after a kilometer in direct sunlight and the heat of the early afternoon, we did not participate. About a dozen women from Joy Dance Rovereto performed their line dancing routines as the DJ spun Italian tunes. A crepe with honey and Cantina di Aldeno’s Moscato Giallo gave us our final boost to walk into town, where we closed out the Magnalonga with coffee and grappa. The cantinas had tables set up in town so that we had the opportunity to buy the wines we tasted along the route.
Outside of town, we joined about 30 fellow participants to wait for the bus that would shuttle us back to the starting point in Volano. The experience exceeded my expectations, and it was a fun way to experience hyper-local foods and wines and support local businesses. I would do one as a solo traveler as well, as there are plenty of opportunities to mingle, especially if you speak Italian.
Other Mangialonga events in Italy*:
Perhaps the most famous is the one in La Morra (Province of Cuneo, Piedmont) at the end of August
Levanto, as mentioned above, usually in late May (Province of La Spezia, Liguria)
Mangialonga Golfo Paradiso (Recco, Province of Genoa, Liguria), end of April
Val Graveglia, March of the Glutton (Ne, Province of Genoa, Liguria), late June
Mangialonga Fivizzano (Province of Massa-Carrara, Tuscany), late April
Mangialonga Badia Prataglia (Poppi, Province of Arezzo, Tuscany), usually August
*Lisa noted these in her blog post that I linked to above. I was able to find links to info for most of them. But if you know of a Mangialonga that I’ve missed, let me know, and I will add it to the list.