Turin in October 2026: art, major exhibitions and big concerts in truffle season
There's a misunderstanding we end up correcting almost every autumn, when someone writes to us about a Piedmont trip: the idea that October belongs to the Langhe and nowhere else. Truffles, vineyards turning copper, the Alba fair — and Turin demoted to a transit stop, a historic centre to cross in a hurry between two trains.
Which is a shame, because October is precisely when Turin plays its strongest hand. Within three weeks the city opens its most important exhibition season of the year, hosts Italy's leading contemporary art fair and fills the Inalpi Arena for six nights. For travellers this has one practical consequence: a few October weekends are the hardest of the whole year to find a bed in — both in Turin and in the Langhe. Worth knowing in advance.
Here's what happens, in calendar order.
Song Dong at MAO: the museum turns into the artwork (from 23 October)
The month opens with its least predictable surprise. From 23 October 2026 to 27 June 2027, MAO Museum of Oriental Art presents Song Dong. Soul Out, the Beijing artist's first solo show in Italy, curated by Li Zhenhua and Davide Quadrio. This isn't an exhibition parked in one wing: it's a site-specific project that takes over the whole of Palazzo Mazzonis, putting the works in conversation with the permanent collections.
The centrepiece is Waste Not, shown in Italy for the first time — more than ten thousand everyday objects hoarded over decades by the artist's mother, laid out to tell a family biography and half a century of Chinese history at once. Alongside it sits Borrow Light, an installation built from hundreds of lamps lent by Turin residents who answered the museum's call last spring. It's the kind of work this city does well: participatory, slightly off-kilter, with people's own homes inside it.
Turin Art Week and Artissima: the busiest weekend (29 October – 1 November)
Contemporary art week is when Turin changes gear. Artissima returns to the Oval at Lingotto from 30 October to 1 November (invitation-only preview on the 29th) for its 33rd edition, with around 180 Italian and international galleries under the title Fancy: A Flexible, Acrobatic Body, drawn from philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum's thinking on imagination. Everything else orbits the fair: openings, city-wide projects, independent spaces staying open late.
That same weekend, Pinacoteca Agnelli launches its season with Alberto Savinio. Souvenir (30 October 2026 – 4 April 2027), the first major institutional retrospective devoted to Giorgio de Chirico's younger brother: roughly 75 paintings and drawings spanning the 1920s to the early 1950s. If Savinio is new to you, picture family portraits with birds' heads, Greek mythology and dry wit sharing the same canvas. Your ticket also gets you onto the Pista 500, the former car test track on the Lingotto roof — on a clear late-October day, the view towards the Alps justifies the climb on its own.
Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirror Room at OGR (from 31 October)
From 31 October 2026, OGR presents Infinity Mirrored Room – The Eternally Infinite Light of the Universe Illuminating the Quest for Truth, one of Yayoi Kusama's celebrated mirrored environments, within the exhibition The Quantum Effect, curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Jacqui Davies. The Japanese artist died on 14 August, which inevitably turns the Turin showing into a tribute.
A few practical figures, because booking genuinely matters here: tickets go on sale online from 1 October, the Kusama room alone costs €10, The Quantum Effect €8 (€5 reduced), the combined ticket €15. Opening hours are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 9am–6pm, Friday 9am–10pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am–8pm, closed Tuesdays. Time inside the room is limited to a few minutes per visitor — it's a timed-entry installation, not a gallery to linger in.
The concerts: six nights at the Inalpi Arena, two at the Colosseo
If music is what brings you to Turin, October is dense:
Pooh — "POOH 60 – La nostra storia", Inalpi Arena, 10 and 11 October, two nights with a different setlist each evening (tickets from €49 plus booking fees).
Laura Pausini — "Io Canto World Tour", Inalpi Arena, 17 and 18 October, another double date.
Hans Zimmer by Ensemble Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Colosseo, 24 October, 8:30pm: fifty musicians conducted by Giacomo Loprieno performing scores from The Lion King to Interstellar, Dune to Gladiator. One detail that trips people up: this is a symphonic tribute — Zimmer himself isn't on stage.
Fiorella Mannoia, Teatro Colosseo, 28 October, with her tribute to De André and Fossati marking thirty years of Anime salve.
Combining Turin and the Langhe (and the three weekends to book now)
This is the part closest to what our guests actually ask us. Turin and Alba are just over an hour apart by car, and the hills between them are less an obstacle than one of the finest drives in Piedmont. You can comfortably sleep in the city and spend a day in wine country, or the reverse — provided you pick your dates well.
Three weekends in particular collide with events that move tens of thousands of people:
10–11 October — the Alba White Truffle World Market opens (inauguration on the 9th) while the Inalpi Arena hosts the Pooh double date. It's the tightest weekend of the Piedmontese autumn on both fronts.
17–18 October — the truffle fair in full swing plus Laura Pausini's two nights.
30 October – 1 November — Artissima, the Savinio and Kusama openings and the All Saints' long weekend, all at once. For Turin this is the absolute peak of the year.
Our advice, after a few seasons of fielding last-minute requests on exactly these dates: if Art Week is your target, book the accommodation before the fair tickets, not after. And if you'd rather have a more breathable Turin, the weeks of 12–16 and 19–23 October offer the very same exhibitions with half the crowd — Song Dong and Hiroshige are already open at MAO, the civic museums are far more pleasant midweek, and restaurants can be booked a day ahead instead of three weeks.
One last useful note: nearly all of these shows run well past October. Kusama until February 2027, Savinio until April, Song Dong all the way to June. If October looks too crowded, November and January in Turin are beautiful and oddly empty.
If you'd like to build your Turin October with someone who lives this region year-round, take a look at our houses between Turin, Alba and the Langhe: discover the AlbaTorinoEscapes Boutique Houses. For guided visits, hill tours and experiences to pair with your weekend, this is a good starting point.
Frequently asked questions
When should I book accommodation in Turin for the Artissima weekend? As early as you can. The weekend of 30 October – 1 November 2026 combines Artissima, the Turin Art Week openings and the All Saints' holiday: it's the single busiest date on the city's calendar. Late bookers find very little, usually far from the centre and at considerably higher rates.
How much does the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room at OGR cost? €10 for the Kusama installation alone, €8 for The Quantum Effect exhibition (€5 reduced), €15 for the combined ticket. Online sales open on 1 October 2026. Entry to the room is timed and lasts only a few minutes, so a midweek slot is the more relaxed choice.
Can I visit the Alba Truffle Fair and Turin's exhibitions in the same weekend? Yes, and the pairing works well: the two cities are just over an hour apart by car, with rail connections from Torino Porta Nuova (check timetables — some services involve a change at Bra). The most comfortable formula is a morning at the World Truffle Market, lunch in the Langhe, and back to Turin in the afternoon for an exhibition or a concert.
Are any of these exhibitions still open after October? Almost all of them. Song Dong. Soul Out at MAO runs until 27 June 2027, Alberto Savinio. Souvenir at Pinacoteca Agnelli until 4 April 2027, the Kusama room at OGR until late February 2027, and Hiroshige – Dreamscapes, also at MAO, until 29 November 2026. Only Artissima and the concerts are fixed, one-off dates.
This article was produced with the support of artificial intelligence tools and reviewed by Walter Perlo before publication. Dates, opening hours and prices are accurate as of 14 September 2026 according to the official sources of each institution: always check official channels before travelling.
Come and live Turin's October of exhibitions, concerts and hills — with a home of your own minutes from the centre:
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