The Festa dell’Ospite returns to Piazza Feltrinelli
Gargnano sits on the western, Brescia shore of Lake Garda, a working lakeside town rather than a resort. Once a year it turns its main square over to the Festa dell’Ospite, the “guests’ festival”, its way of welcoming the people who spend the summer here. In 2026 it runs across two evenings, Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 August, in Piazza Feltrinelli. The shape of it is familiar: food stalls with regional specialities, artisan stalls around the square, live music into the night. What changes this year comes at the end of the first evening, when the organisers bring what they describe as the lake’s first drone light show to the water above Gargnano.
The programme, evening by evening
On Saturday 1 August the food and craft stalls open at 7pm. From 9.30pm the band Alterego takes the stage, and from 11pm the sky above the lake lights up with the Drone Light Show. If the weather does not hold on the Saturday, the drone show moves to the Sunday.
Sunday 2 August repeats the same 7pm opening, with stalls and craft markets, and from 9.30pm live music from Four Fingers.
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The drone show, and why you will want to stay late
A drone show works in the opposite way to fireworks. In place of the bangs and the smoke, a swarm of synchronised drones holds steady above the water and traces glowing figures that form and dissolve against the dark, with the lake below carrying the reflection. You get a clean view from the square and all along the Lungolago Zanardelli, the lakeside promenade, and it pays to find your spot before 11pm. This is the first time Gargnano has tried it, and the Saturday evening is built to lead you there: you eat in the square, you listen to the music, you wait for the sky.
Food, crafts and music
The stalls serve specialities from the surrounding territory, alongside the artisan stands that line the square on both evenings. The music is handled by a different act each night, Alterego on the Saturday and Four Fingers on the Sunday, both from 9.30pm. It is set up for staying rather than passing through: you come for the stall, you stay for the band, and on the Saturday you see the evening out with the drones.
Getting there and practical details
Gargnano lies on the western shore of Lake Garda, on the Gardesana Occidentale, the lakeshore road, between Salò to the south and Limone sul Garda to the north. The festival is held in the open, across Piazza Feltrinelli and the promenade in the centre of town. The practical advice is the same for both nights: come early, since the stalls open at 7pm, and for Saturday’s drones settle on the lakefront in good time. For information, the Pro Loco Gargnano can be reached on 348 6591447, or at info@thisisgargnano.it.
Questions and answers
When is the Festa dell’Ospite 2026 in Gargnano? Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 August 2026, in Piazza Feltrinelli.
What time is the drone show? Saturday 1 August from 11pm. If the weather is poor it moves to Sunday 2 August.
Who is playing? Alterego on the Saturday, Four Fingers on the Sunday, both from 9.30pm.
What is at the stalls? Regional food specialities and local craft markets, open from 7pm.
Mark both evenings and come down to the square: the stalls open at 7pm, the music starts at 9.30pm, and on the Saturday it runs late for the sky.
