Cheese in Bra: A Global Showcase for Artisan Cheese
- Nicole Ruskell
- Oct 2
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 19
From 19 to 22 September 2025, the town of Bra, Italy once again hosted "Cheese!", the biennial festival organized by Slow Food International. Now in its fifteenth edition, the event has grown into the world’s leading gathering dedicated to artisan cheesemaking, raw-milk dairy, and the wider ecosystem of quality food production.
Bra itself is a world-wide centre for culinary excellence. Set in the rolling hills of Piedmont’s Langhe wine region (about a 3-hour drive from Nice, France), Bra is a small town with an outsized cultural influence. The birthplace of the Slow Food movement, it lies only a short drive from the vineyards that produce Barolo and Barbaresco, two of Italy’s most celebrated wines. Not to mention the epicentre of the tartufo bianco, itself celebrated with an annual festival in nearby Alba (see our article on the Alba Truffle Festival).
Cheese brings tens of thousands of visitors to the small town, and Bra’s limited accommodations fill quickly. It is advised to book well in advance or look to the surrounding towns and villages. A particularly noteworthy option is to stay in the historic village of Barolo, a beautiful hilltop town where medieval streets wind between wine cellars and tasting rooms. Not only does it place you at the heart of one of the world’s great wine capitals, but it also offers the perfect opportunity to deepen your gastronomic journey with visits to many nearby wineries of the Langhe region. Barolo is about a 20 minute drive from Bra (See our feature on Barolo: The King of Wines, and Wine of Kings.)
A Marketplace and a Meeting Place
For visitors, the most visible expression of Cheese is the bustling network of stands that take over Bra’s historic streets. Cheesemakers from Italy and across the world—France, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Balkans, the Americas—offer samples of their creations, from robust alpine tommes to delicate bloomy rinds. Tasting is informal and convivial, but structured zones of “taste workshops” and official guided degustations allow participants to dive deeper into comparative flights, exploring terroir, milk type, and affinage techniques.
Beyond the open-air marketplace, the festival has a strong academic and professional dimension. Lectures and panel discussions address subjects ranging from biodiversity and sustainable grazing to food sovereignty and public health. Pedagogic courses link dairy to other gastronomic disciplines, particularly wine, with structured pairing sessions often hosted in nearby Pollenzo, home to Slow Food’s University of Gastronomic Sciences and its celebrated Wine Bank. This dual structure—popular and technical—gives Cheese its distinctive balance between public festival and professional forum.
How Cheese Began
Cheese was first held in 1997, initiated by Slow Food and the Municipality of Bra. At the time, industrial dairy production was threatening small-scale cheesemaking traditions in Italy, and the festival aimed to spotlight artisan producers while educating consumers. Over the decades, Cheese has grown far beyond its regional origins, evolving into a truly international stage for the defense of raw-milk cheeses and traditional production methods.
The Slow Food Context
The festival’s DNA is inseparable from Slow Food, the global movement founded in 1986 by Carlo Petrini, in Bra. Originally conceived as a cultural response to the spread of fast food, Slow Food advocates for food that is “good, clean, and fair”: good in taste and quality, clean in terms of environmental impact, and fair to producers. Its initiatives range from educational programs to the creation of Presidia, which protect endangered food traditions and support small producers.
Cheese is one of the movement’s flagship events, and it exemplifies Slow Food’s mission: preserving biodiversity, championing artisanal skill, and fostering consumer awareness about the wider ecological and social dimensions of what we eat. But they also arrange several other food events around the world, incuding Terre Madre, Slow Wine, Slow Fish, and numerous other events.
A Global Platform for Raw Milk
Over time, the festival’s defining focus has become raw-milk cheeses. While industrial dairy often relies on pasteurization and standardized cultures, raw-milk cheese carries the unique microbial imprint of place. Advocates argue that this makes for greater complexity and authenticity, while also preserving rural economies and ecosystems. By giving international exposure to these producers, Cheese has helped secure recognition for raw-milk traditions at a time when they faced regulatory and market pressures.
The 2025 edition brought together hundreds of producers, from mountain shepherds to urban affineurs. For many, Bra is the only international stage where their work can be encountered alongside peers from five continents.
More Than Cheese
Although dairy is the heart of the event, Cheese extends across the gastronomic spectrum. A dedicated food truck area features regional Italian dishes—from Piedmontese tajarin with butter and sage to Umbrian porchetta—always made with local and responsibly sourced ingredients. One of our favourites, and others' as well based on the long line, was the Bombette, little balls of roasted black pork, filled with moist cheese, garlic and parsley. They were juicy and delicious! Multiple stands with artisan craft beer were everywhere, plus, surrounding stands that highlight complementary artisanal products: natural wines, cured meats, chutneys, honeys, craft crackers, jams, and small-batch liqueurs.
The Next Edition of Cheese:
The festival is biennial, scheduled in two years for September 2027 (exact dates to be confirmed). Stay informed on dates by visiting the official website: https://cheese.slowfood.it/en/
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