The Umberto Giordano Festival was started on the occasion of the centenary of the first performance of the composer’s opera Fedora (1898), and the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death in 1948. It originated as an event devoted to musicians and composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, but was later extended to include all the musical genres of last century. It is held every July in Baveno, where the composer spent lengthy periods on holiday and at work in his superb Villa Fedora.

The Council Chamber of Baveno Town Hall is the venue for a series of concerts, while Villa Fedora hosts exhibitions in memory of Umberto Giordano and many other artists who were his friends and who stayed with him in the villa.

The Festival focuses not only on music but also theatre, poetry and other performing arts, and includes concerts, song recitals, painting and photography.

Events are held in Baveno, Stresa and Feriolo,  in the afternoon or in the evening. Some are free, for others there is a charge.