Comunella Market in Bologna, 26-27 September 2026: full guide

Comunella Market returns to Bologna on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026, from 11:30 to 19:30, inside TEST - Nuovo Prototipo Urbano, at Viale Carducci 30 - Bologna (BO). Entry is free: you can simply show up, or book your free ticket on Handsome in advance and get a reminder with times and directions.

Comunella Market 2026: dates, opening hours and address

• When: Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026
• Hours: 11:30 - 19:30, both days
• Where: TEST - Nuovo Prototipo Urbano, Viale Carducci 30 - Bologna (BO)
• Entry: free, with a free ticket you can book online
• What you'll find: craft and illustration stands, creative workshops, installations, food & beverage

You can come for one day or both: the programme runs all day and the format is made to be wandered through slowly. Practical tip: arrive in the first hour, when the stands are quiet and you can actually talk to the people behind them, or in the late afternoon, when the garden fills up and the whole thing feels like a neighbourhood party.

The venue: Villa Turri and TEST - Nuovo Prototipo Urbano

The market takes place inside TEST - Nuovo Prototipo Urbano, the project that gave Villa Turri and its historic garden back to the city of Bologna, turning them into an open, shared space. It is not a trade-fair hall nor a street closed off for a day: it is a place that lives all year round, with artisan shops, creative ateliers, workshops and cultural events.

That changes the experience quite a bit. Stands are not lined up on asphalt but spread between trees, porticoes and courtyard; you sit down, eat something, walk back to take a second look at a table. Which is why two or three hours is the right amount of time to set aside.

What you'll find at Comunella Market

At the heart of the market are the people who make things by hand: ceramicists, illustrators, makers working with textiles, jewellery, paper and homeware. Alongside the stands there are creative workshops you can join on the spot, installations, and a food & beverage area to pause between one lap and the next.

• Craft and illustration: one-off pieces or small runs, with the maker standing right there
• Hands-on workshops: short sessions, usually welcoming for absolute beginners
• Installations and set design: the route through the garden is designed, not improvised
• Food & beverage: eat and drink inside the garden, without leaving the event

One note on how to read a market like this: what separates one stand from the next is not only price, it is process. Asking how an object was made - which clay, which glaze, how many hours, how many hands - is the fastest way to understand what you are buying. People who genuinely make things are happy to answer, and that is the moment a market stops being shopping and becomes a short visit to a workshop.

Getting to Viale Carducci 30

Viale Carducci 30 sits just outside Bologna's historic centre, on the ring boulevards, a few minutes on foot from Porta Santo Stefano and well served by city buses. From Bologna Centrale station you can get there easily by public transport, or with a walk across the old town. By car, expect paid parking in the area, and on event weekends a space is easier to find a few blocks away.

The free ticket: how it works and why to book it

Entry to Comunella Market is free. On Handsome you can still book a free ticket: it arrives by email as a PDF with a QR code to show at the entrance. It does two very practical things: it sends you a reminder with date, time and address, and if anything changes - hours, layout, weather - you are among the first to know.

No hidden costs, no card required: the free ticket is free, full stop. You can say how many of you are coming, so the organisers know what turnout to expect.

Are you a Maker? The exhibitor call is open

Comunella is looking for exhibitors for the September edition: clothing, accessories, ceramics, illustration, flowers and plants, homeware and decor. You apply from the call page - if you are a Maker on Handsome you also find it in your dashboard, under "Exhibitor calls" - you can choose one day or both, and the selection keeps an eye on the mix, so the market does not end up with twenty stands doing the same thing.

On Handsome you can go one step further: bring a live workshop of your own to the market. Visitors do not just buy an object, they try making one - the most effective way we know to turn a stand into a relationship that lasts beyond the weekend. See how it works for Makers.

Craft in Bologna, beyond the weekend

If the market leaves you wanting to try with your own hands, Handsome lists workshops run by Makers across Emilia-Romagna: ceramics, weaving, jewellery, wood, illustration. A few hours in the studio of someone who does this for a living, with all materials included in the price. See workshops near Bologna.