There is a moment, every year, when the Upper Brembana changes pace. The days shorten, the light becomes more oblique between the fir trees, and in the villages of Altobrembo the anticipation for the arrival of the first snow is already felt. Fungolandia, The festival that for twenty-one years marks the beginning of autumn in these mountains.
In 2026, the event will be renewed, expanding its calendar throughout September. No longer a single weekend highlight, but a journey that runs from the 4th to the 27th of the month, capable of telling the story of the territory at different speeds: lighter and more convivial in the early events, more authentic and intimate in the central phase.
It all begins on Saturday, September 5, in Piazza Brembana, where the day begins with artisan markets and local products, continuing with Aperifungo and institutional greetings that officially kick off the twenty-first edition. Around this first weekend and the following one on September 11-13, initiatives are planned for a wide audience: live music, activities for families, opportunities to meet the villages of the valley.
It is from September 19, however, that Fungolandia shows its most identifiable face. The Fungo Exhibition of the Valle Brembana opens at the Antica Segheria Pianetti in Olmo al Brembo, curated by the Bresadola Micological Association of Agrate Brianza: over 250 varieties collected on the slopes of the Orobie Mountains are on display to tell the story of a biodiversity that is also an indicator of the health of these forests. Around the exhibition, guided walks are organized every day to discover the species, while the affiliated restaurants offer themed menus for those who want to end the day with a meal.
The program is enriched with events that go beyond the purely gastronomic: an evening with the mountaineer and television presenter Lino Zani, the evocative “Night of the Blackheads” to listen to the call of the deer during the mating season, the meeting with the mycologist Nicolò Oppicelli, and the traditional “Biggest Mushroom Hunt”, now a small ritual that is renewed every year.
The curtain will fall on Sunday, September 27, in Piazzolo, with a day designed for all ages, featuring aerial dances, workshops and final awards ceremonies.
More than just a fair, Fungolandia proves to be a way to explore the Upper Brembana Valley with a precise pretext — the mushroom, of course — but with a gaze that inevitably ends up expanding: to the forests, to the villages, and to a autumn that is still lived here with its ancient rhythms.
