by InTrieste
From December 6 to 14, Milan’s Rho-Pero exhibition center is home to one of Italy’s largest international fairs for handcrafted goods, Artigiano in Fiera, where the Friuli Venezia Giulia region is highlighting its artisanal traditions, food culture, and innovative craft skills.
The regional collective features 33 companies, including 14 under the “Io sono Friuli Venezia Giulia” brand, across an expanded exhibition space of over 1,000 square meters. Coordinated by PromoTurismoFVG in collaboration with the Fondazione Agrifood & Bioeconomy FVG and Cata FVG, the Friuli Venezia Giulia pavilion showcases a mix of distillers, brewers, winemakers, gastronomic artisans, ceramists, designers, and craftsmen in wood, metal, textiles, and footwear. Among the highlights are the renowned knives of Maniago, emblematic of the region’s centuries-old metalworking tradition.
New Features for 2025
This year marks the region’s 30th participation in the fair. A new institutional space constructed in corten steel serves as an information and hospitality center, offering product tastings and promoting regional tourism. The pavilion is organized into five thematic areas reflecting the region’s landscapes: the sea, the mountains, vineyards, the Tagliamento River, and the cross-border area of Nova Gorica-Gorizia, the European Capital of Culture 2025.
A dedicated promotional video campaign will run throughout the event on LED screens, presenting the region’s diversity and richness every three minutes under the slogan “C’è tutto un mondo” (“There is a whole world”). Students from Ial FVG, a vocational training institute, will assist with visitor services, reflecting a growing connection between education and regional promotion.
For the first time, a loyalty system allows visitors to earn stamps for purchases at certified businesses. Collecting three stamps grants access to the hospitality area for complimentary tastings, encouraging engagement with local products. Demonstrations will take place over the weekends, including traditional corn husk crafting from the Pro Loco of Reana del Rojale and calligraphy on parchment by the Italian School of Amanuenses from San Daniele del Friuli.
Participating Businesses
The 2025 edition, themed “È il momento della persona” (“It’s the moment of the individual”), celebrates artisans’ identities and creativity. Among the exhibitors are distilleries such as Buiese Distillerie and Liquorificio Susanna; wineries and breweries including Reguta and Antica Contea Birrificio; gastronomic producers like Salumificio Zahre and Le Zattere – De Gusto FVG; pastry and confectionery artisans Molino 66 and Pasticceria Dolcevita; as well as ceramists, textile and home décor specialists, and designers working in wood, metal, and fashion accessories.
With over 2,800 artisans from 90 countries and more than a million visitors expected, Artigiano in Fiera offers a major platform for promoting the region’s tourism, craft skills, and culinary traditions to an international audience.
