After the first edition of World Aperitivo Day, Italy’s most beloved ritual, the aperitivo, becomes the star of a three-day event in conjunction with the dedicated celebration.
Milan’s Aperitivo Festival
After the success of last year’s World Aperitivo Day, the event format created by MWW Group, returns and, on the occasion of its second edition, it expands and evolves into a major gathering with the Aperitivo Festival, hosted from Friday, May 26 to Sunday, May 28 in the spaces of the Nhow Hotel in Via Tortona 35 as well as in other locations throughout the city of Milan.
Three days dedicated to the Italians’ most cherished ceremony, with the aim of enhancing and promoting this convivial moment, while also highlighting Italy’s agribusiness and culinary excellence along with the creativity of professionals in the sector, and raising awareness about the responsible consumption of alcohol.
Raising a Toast to World Aperitivo Day
World Aperitivo Day is the international day of the aperitif launched last year with the signing of the Manifesto dell’Aperitivo, the first specification created to codify, promote and protect one of the most beloved rituals of Italian-ness, shared by institutions, ambassadors, brands, and companies.
On Friday, May 26, the day on which the anniversary is celebrated, themed events and initiatives are scheduled in all Italian establishments that have responded to the appeal of FIPE-Confcommercio, Federazione Italiana Pubblici Esercizi, under the banner of two simple rules: the mandatory pairing of a drink and a food preparation with at least 50 percent of ingredients Made in Italy.
Among the proposals are also those of great chefs such as Carlo Cracco, Andrea Berton, Viviana Varese, Daniel Canzian, and Antonio and Vincenzo Lebano, ambassadors of the event, who will offer exclusive signature pairings at their restaurants and elsewhere.
The supermarket chain Carrefour Italia, the main sponsor of World Aperitivo Day, will engage many stores, scattered throughout the country, where areas dedicated entirely to the aperitif will be set up. Depending on the region, shoppers will thus be able to find local ingredients, selected to create recipes that enhance the territory of origin, to compose their own food & drink pairing at home.
Coldiretti and Campagna Amica will set up a series of Farmers’ Markets throughout Italy that will promote aperitifs made with typical products from the various Italian regions. In addition, in Milan, at Via Friuli 10/A, from 5 to 10 p.m., it will be possible to enjoy an agri-aperitivo in the outdoor courtyard with live musical accompaniment. There will also be the opportunity to buy online at the market’s website everything necessary to enjoy a farmer’s aperitivo wherever one desires, choosing between two proposals: the garden agribag and the farmer’s agribag.
Milan: Home to the First Negroni Sbagliato
The first day of the Aperitivo Festival will be held at the Nhow Hotel in Milan, with the inaugural conference, and the awarding of the historic Bar Basso in Milan, the bar that originated the cocktail “Negroni Sbagliato”: the reinterpretation of the famous Negroni that, due to a mistake by bartender Mirko Stocchetto,includes among its ingredients Spumante Brut instead of gin, which immediately became a city institution, now popular all over the world. The award will be presented to his son, Maurizio Stocchetto, kicking off the first edition of the World Aperitivo Award, which each year will give recognition to bars that have made Italian aperitivo history.
Three Days Around the City and Beyond
The three-day event will see the Lombard capital enlivened by events, tastings, masterclasses, talks, and entertainment, staged in the spaces of the Nhow Hotel and in several venues of the Tortona Savona District, a tasting itinerary that includes 20 aperitif experiences, through which to discover the best pairings made in collaboration with partner brands and consortiums.
“One year after the presentation of the Aperitivo Manifesto, we are happy to be able to celebrate World Aperitivo Day again in an even more meaningful way,” comments Federico Gordini, founder of the MWW Group.
“Thanks to partnerships with Carrefour, Fipe, and Coldiretti, a number of venues, supermarkets and farmers’ markets will be activated nationwide that will allow consumers from all over Italy to experience the day, whether they choose to go out or stay at home. The first edition of the Aperitivo Festival becomes, instead, the elective moment of communication and experience of the values of the Manifesto, through a path of 20 food and beverage pairings with some of the most important Italian and international brands and consortia as protagonists.”