VCO Pride, the Pride of the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola province in northern Piedmont, holds its second parade in Gravellona Toce on Sunday 4 October 2026. The theme is "Crescere Liberə", roughly "growing up free", and the six days before the parade carry a free cultural programme across three towns. It is run by Arcigay Nuovi Colori and AGEDO Verbania/Arona with the support of the town council. The date and the basics are on our event page; this is what happens during the week.
The parade
According to VCONews, the parade leaves at 11:00 from Via Alluvione, at the corner with Via Cavagnino, and reaches Parco Moroni at about 13:00. The organisers describe the rest of the day as music, public speeches and time to meet. It is a morning parade, so anyone coming from Milan or Turin for the day should plan on an early start.
Vladimir Luxuria, the actor and former member of parliament, is this edition's madrina, the patron who fronts the event.
Crescere Liberə, 29 September to 4 October
The programme was posted by the organising committee. Every event is free and open to anyone.
- Tuesday 29 September, 20:00, Biblioteca civica, Gravellona Toce. The Canadian documentary Pride vs Prejudice, then a discussion with AGEDO and the CGIL trade union about discrimination in schools. The screening is held with the Canadian embassy in Italy.
- Thursday 1 October, 18:00, Casa Ceretti, Verbania. Flavio Nuccitelli presents his book Quando fuori è buio, followed by a screening of Michela Andreozzi's film Unicorni.
- Friday 2 October, 18:00, Biblioteca civica, Gravellona Toce. A round table on how illustrated books, video games and animated film shape what children imagine, with the art director Marieke Ferrari, the illustrator HEM, Mattia Berletti and Marco Spelgatti.
- Saturday 3 October, 21:00, Il Chiostro, Intra (Verbania). Stand-up from Valentina Medda, Maddaloska and Alessandra Flamini of C'è Figa, a comedy show that takes its name from the sexist remark it was written to answer.
- Sunday 4 October, 18:00, Omegna. After the parade, Luxuria joins Silvia Clo Di Gregorio and Samuele Galli to present Un Fantastico Altrove, a book of photographs, stories and readings.
The week has the backing of the Fondazione VCO, with events run together with the literary festival LetterAltura and the Canadian embassy.
Italy for LGBTQ+ travellers
Italy has had civil unions since 2016 but no same-sex marriage, and a bill that would have covered homophobic and transphobic hate crime failed in the Senate in 2021. The country scores 24.11 of 100 on ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Index. Our Italy page has the detail. We list no venues in Gravellona Toce itself; the Pride is a provincial event, and its programme is spread over Gravellona, Verbania on Lake Maggiore and Omegna on Lake Orta.