November in Puglia opens with vino novello, Italy’s new wine, which by law goes on sale from 30 October. It passes through St Martin’s Day on Wednesday the 11th, and fills its weekends with festivals of the cardoncello mushroom, from Spinazzola to Cassano delle Murge. Here you will only find dates that an official source has already published for 2026, and at the bottom the festivals still waiting for confirmation.

In Puglia, November is the month when the summer’s work reaches the table. The grape harvest is over, the must has turned into wine, on the Murgia plateau it is cardoncello season, and village squares fill up again with sagre — village food festivals built around one product, with stalls, cooking and music. It is also the month when it is easiest to turn up on the wrong day: many festivals still circulate with last year’s dates, and we have checked them one by one.

Two glasses of red wine on a wooden table with chestnuts, white grapes and an open pomegranate: the flavours of November

Red wine, chestnuts, grapes and pomegranate: the November table.

On 30 October, vino novello arrives

The month starts two days early. By Italian law, vino novello may be sold from 00:01 on 30 October: that is set by the ministerial decree of 13 August 2012, which also lays down how it is made. It must be a wine with a designation of origin or a geographical indication, made at least 40% by carbonic maceration of whole bunches, and bottled by 31 December. In Puglia, the production rules of nine DOC wines and of all six of the region’s IGTs allow a novello. We give it a piece of its own on Friday 30 October.

St Martin’s Day, Wednesday 11 November

“At St Martin’s, every must becomes wine”: the Italian proverb says fermentation is over and the year’s wine can be tasted. On 11 November the burial of Martin of Tours is remembered — the saint who, according to legend, shared his cloak with a freezing beggar; the Council of Mâcon, in 585, made it a feast day. Hence “St Martin’s summer”, the mild days that tradition links to that gesture.

In Puglia, St Martin is the saint of new wine and long tables. In Martina Franca, where he is the patron saint, 11 November is traditionally the day of the fair, although the 2026 programme has not yet been published.

The confirmed calendar

These are the festivals for which a town council, an organiser or the local press has already written down the 2026 dates.

  • Friday 30 October – Sunday 1 November, Carpignano Salentino (Lecce) — All Saints’ Fair and pork festival. The dates are those of the council’s call for stall pitches, published in August.
  • Sunday 1 November, Orsara di Puglia (Foggia) — Fucacoste e cocce priatorje, the night of bonfires and pumpkins carved for the souls. It is held every year on 1 November, this year a Sunday; the council has already set access rules for the village to handle the crowds.
  • Saturday 7 – Sunday 8 November, Noci (Bari) — Bacco nelle Gnostre, roast chestnuts and wine in the alleys of the old town, the gnostre.
  • Saturday 7 – Sunday 8 November, Spinazzola (Barletta-Andria-Trani) — Cardoncello mushroom festival.
  • Wednesday 11 November — St Martin’s Day.
  • Friday 13 – Sunday 15 November, Conversano (Bari) — Novello sotto il Castello, the sixteenth edition: the new wine festival in the old town, organised by the association La Compagnia del Trullo.
  • Saturday 14 – Sunday 15 November, Ruvo di Puglia (Bari) — Cardoncello mushroom festival.
  • Saturday 21 – Sunday 22 November, Gravina in Puglia (Bari) — Cardoncello mushroom festival.
  • Saturday 28 – Sunday 29 November, Cassano delle Murge (Bari) — Cardoncello mushroom festival, the last stop.

One weekend in three, the cardoncello

Four of November’s dates are stops on the same tour: Cardoncello on the road, the travelling festival of the mushroom of the Murgia, organised by UNPLI Puglia, the network of Pro Loco village associations, with the support of the town councils. It starts in October in Poggiorsini and Minervino Murge, then in November moves on to Spinazzola, Ruvo, Gravina and Cassano. This year the Ruvo stop was recognised as a “Sagra di qualità”, a quality festival.

To cook the mushroom at home, try our cardoncelli mushrooms au gratin; for the wine, our guide to the wines of Puglia.

Why the wrong dates travel. A widely used festival website lists Bacco nelle Gnostre on 8-9 November, the Gravina stop on 15-16 and the San Ferdinando artichoke fair on 13-16: all of them are 2025 dates. Last year 8 November was a Saturday; this year it is a Sunday, and whoever copies them changes the year but not the days. That is why the list above only contains what the organisers have written for 2026.

Waiting for confirmation

These November festivals come back every year, but as we write no official source has published the 2026 dates. We are not printing any: if you have heard a date, check it before you travel.

  • Novello in festa, Leverano — the red wines of the Salento, organised by the Pro Loco.
  • St Martin’s Fair, Martina Franca.
  • San Martino – Ogni mosto diventa vino, Putignano.
  • San Martino – Sapori d’autunno, Ischitella.
  • National Mediterranean artichoke fair, San Ferdinando di Puglia.
  • Artichoke festival, Trinitapoli.
  • Festival of Primitivo wine and black chickpeas, Acquaviva delle Fonti.

How this calendar was built. Every date comes from a source that states the year 2026: the organiser’s website for Noci, the official Cardoncello on the road calendar published by RuvoLive for the four stops, the council’s call for Carpignano, the ministerial decree for novello, the organisers’ presentation reported by Giornale di Puglia on 23 October for Conversano. Orsara and St Martin’s Day fall on fixed dates, and Stato Quotidiano confirmed Orsara on 8 October. We also checked the day of the week, the simplest way to catch a date copied from the year before. We will update this piece as confirmations come in (last checked: 25 October).

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