The Terre & Sapori d'Alto Garda Association organizes the Citrus Garden event every year in collaboration with the Municipality of Gargnano and the Parish of Saint Martin in Gargnano. The event aims to promote and create greater appreciation for the extraordinary upper Lake Garda lemon groves and citrus fruits, which are still cultivated for economic and aesthetic purposes.

As has been documented since the fifteenth century, citrus fruits along the upper Lake Garda Riviera on the Brescia side were cultivated profitably and created the unique look of the landscape with its monumental stone greenhouses and lemon groves, built to defend the plants from the rigors of the winter.

The Terre & Sapori d'Alto Garda Association seeks to help the local population and its visitors rediscover the ancient agricultural traditions that have still continued on to this day, thanks to the great work of some enthusiasts.  It is hoped that the number of citrus producers will increase and thereby allow for the fruits to return to being the real protagonists of the upper Lake Garda landscape, and that the lemon groves gain fame as a unique symbol of world heritage.

The Citrus Garden event, first organized in April 2015, has gained increasing interest and success, as it has been greatly appreciated both by tourists passing through and by the many Gargnanese who have participated in the event in recent years.
The cloister of Saint Francis is the centerpiece of the event: it features a pomological table of over 50 varieties of citrus fruits grown in the upper Lake Garda area, as well as an exhibition of tools once used in cultivating the trees.

Following the historical routes of the Via Crocefisso and San Giacomo, through the center of Villa and up to Bogliaco, visitors can access the places where citrus fruits have been grown and are still being harvested today - sometimes even by using the historical techniques. The walk is made possible thanks to the twenty land owners who collaborate with the association and agree to open up their properties to the public.The Citrus Gardens event is accompanied by exhibitions, cultural meetings, educational and sensorial workshops, musical and artistic events, guided tours and a market dedicated to citrus fruits and other local gastronomic and artisanal products. The market grows every year with the addition of new vendors from other citrus growing areas.

program of the event