Festival del Prosciutto di Parma

This is the reason to go. The rules as published for 2026:

• Booking is mandatory, online through the festival's Finestre Aperte booking site.
• Price: €2 for adults, free for under-18s.
• Six tours a day at each participating house: 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon, then 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
• Groups of up to 15.
• You get there yourself. The organizer says visitors must reach the plants by their own means, and they are spread across the hills from Langhirano to Felino, Sala Baganza and Lesignano de' Bagni.

The list of participating producers changes every year and the festival's interactive map was still showing 2025 data in late September 2026, so check it again when the 2027 edition opens. Our prosciutto tasting page covers the ham houses you can book on any weekday of the year, which is the fallback if your dates miss the festival.

The 2026 programme is a fair guide to what 2027 will offer. Highlights, all in Langhirano:

• Friday September 4, 6:30 p.m.: opening on Piazza G. Ferrari with chef Andrea Mainardi and a show-cooking act, then the prosciutterie (tasting stands run by local associations) opened at 7:45 p.m.
• Saturday September 5: the "Prosciutto di Parma Experience" area on Via Vittorio Veneto opened at 10 a.m. with talks, a hand-slicing demonstration at 3 p.m. and a chef's show cooking at 4 p.m. A masterclass comparing hams from around the world with Prosciutto di Parma cost €15, booking required.
• Sunday September 6: a guided 3.5-hour walk from Felino castle to Torrechiara with a visit to the salame museum; tastings of prosciutto, fiocco and culatta with Colli di Parma wines, booked at the infopoint on Piazza G. Ferrari.
• Saturday September 12: a tasting of Prosciutto di Parma against Culatello di Zibello, plus a vintage and antiques market.

On festival days the Museo del Prosciutto di Parma (Via Bocchialini 7) stayed open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a €3 ticket for everyone and free guided tours at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. It belongs to the Musei del Cibo network.

Langhirano is about 24 km (15 miles) south of central Parma, around 35 minutes by car. The festival center is walkable once you are there, but the ham houses are not: they sit on the roads out of town, which is why a car matters more than usual on this trip. Our Food Valley without a car page covers the bus options if you only want the piazza events.

The obvious pairing is Torrechiara Castle, a few minutes up the valley: book a morning Finestre Aperte slot, eat at a prosciutteria, and see the Camera d'Oro in the afternoon. If you want the hills as a base, see the Parma Hills.

• Come in the daytime if you came for ham. Evenings are concerts and dance nights; the tastings, factory visits and museum run by day.
• Do not buy a whole leg on impulse. Read our guide to buying prosciutto to take home first: vacuum-packed slices and boned pieces travel, and customs rules differ for the US and the UK.
• Do learn the brand. A genuine ham carries the Consorzio's ducal crown brand. Our Prosciutto di Parma page explains the rules behind it.

We found no published data on hotel prices during the festival, and we are not going to invent a percentage. Langhirano itself has few rooms. Most visitors sleep in Parma and drive out; see where to stay. Book as soon as the dates are announced, and note that Festival Verdi follows from late September into October.

Parma: Prosciutto di Parma Tour

Starts 2 p.m. at the NH Parma hotel. Max 8. Not for vegetarians. Pairs with a morning dairy visit on the same day.

2.5 hours

4.6★★★★★★★★★★(64 reviews)

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Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.