ReOlio Reggello 2026: Your Guide to Olio Nuovo
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
"Le olive ci sono, sono tante, belle e sane, resta come ogni anno l'incognita della resa che scopriremo solo in frantoio." Letizia Cesani, president of Coldiretti Toscana, said this to La Nazione in late September. In English: the olives are there, plenty of them, good-looking and healthy, and as every year the unknown is the yield, which we will only find out at the mill.
A month on, her sentence describes the season well. In most years the worry sits in the grove: whether the fly got in, whether the fruit held. In 2026 the grove side is largely settled. What remains open is how much oil the fruit gives at the press and what that oil will cost. ReOlio, Reggello's 53rd new-oil fair, opens tomorrow in Cascia. It is the first weekend this autumn when Reggello producers put this year's oil on one floor, so you can taste it and buy direct.
The olive fly is the usual story of a Tuscan autumn, and this year it barely appeared. The president of the Toscano IGP consortium gave La Nazione a simple reason on October 15: "Le temperature secche di quest'estate … hanno impedito la riproduzione della mosca olearia." This summer's dry temperatures prevented the olive fly from reproducing. Fewer flies meant healthier fruit and fewer treatments.
The consortium's first estimate for the 2026 campaign, published the same day, puts Toscano IGP output 35 to 40 percent above its average for the past ten years. It puts mill yields at around 12 percent, or about 12 kilos of oil for every quintal of olives. These are statewide figures for certified IGP oil, released while the harvest was still underway. The consortium says real quantities will only be known as the campaign goes on.
Growers had sensed this a month earlier. In the September report, Paolo Di Gaetano, a Val di Cornia grower and vice-president of Toscano IGP, told La Nazione: "Sarà un buon raccolto, migliore dello scorso anno." It will be a good harvest, better than last year. He described plentiful, healthy olives, little fly, and late rains that had improved the fruit.
None of these figures is specific to Reggello. They describe Tuscany as a whole. Still, they tell a Reggello household what kind of year the oil at Cascia comes from: a clean year with a large crop, still waiting on the press.
A large crop usually suggests cheaper oil. So far the people closest to the market describe something less settled.
Di Gaetano expected prices to rise in September. He did not blame scarcity. He pointed to the cost of fuel, labor and electricity, which a good crop does not cut. Three weeks later, on October 15, La Nazione's report on the consortium estimate described prices as stable "per il momento," for the moment.
Both views can hold at once. One looks at what it costs to bring the olives in and press them. The other looks at where prices stood in mid-October. The difference is what makes this weekend useful. A producer's market lets a buyer compare oils and talk with the people who pressed them while the season's pricing is still settling.
ReOlio 2026 runs Friday, October 30 through Sunday, November 1 at the Palazzetto dello Sport, via Brunetto Latini 109, and entry is free. The Comune di Reggello describes the Mostra Mercato dell'Olio EVO as the center of the event: local producers offering tastings of the new oil and selling it directly.
The fair is older than most people at it. ReOlio's own history dates it to 1973, when the municipality, local associations and producers started a market for local oil. The oil itself is far older. Reggello's tourism office cites the 1404 statute of the Lega di Cascia and counts twelve mills in the wider area by 1800.
Highlights from the published program, by day:
| Day | Hours | Worth arriving for |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, Oct 30 | 11:00–22:00 | Opening and the oil toast at 11:40; a talk on landscape and soil at 15:45; a farinata cooking show at 16:30 |
| Saturday, Oct 31 | 10:00–22:00 | The 50th Corsa podistica dei Quattro Frantoi from 9:00; Marco Municchi of Bistrò Gustò with an autumn pizza, gluten-free included, at 12:00; "Baccalà d'Autunno" from the chefs of Ristorante 1250 at 15:00; Eleonora Riso at 18:00 |
| Sunday, Nov 1 | 10:00–20:00 | The "Reggello Into the wild" trek with Sentieri di Arianna, 8:30–13:30; a talk on Xylella fastidiosa at 10:30; Milko Chilleri at 11:00; the mayors' challenge at 18:30 |
A few sessions speak directly to this year's story. Saturday at 10:15, students from ISIS Vasari's surveying program present a talk with Prof. Carlo Mancini on designing and building a frantoio, comparing traditional and modern mills. That is the room where the resa is decided. At 16:00 the same day, "Costruire insieme la comunità dell'olio" brings together Francesca Bellacci of Slow Food Valdisieve e Valdarno Fiorentino, Reggello mayor Piero Giunti, and Roberto Ciappi, president of Città dell'Olio.
On Sunday morning, ISIS Vasari's agricultural students and Prof. Daniele Benassai take on Xylella fastidiosa, which the program calls a threat to olive growing. In a year when the fly stayed away, it is a reminder that the fly is not the only pest Tuscan growers watch. Milko Chilleri of Toscana TV, joined by Giulio Bisaccioni of AICOO, follows at 11:00 with a session on how local oil reaches a wider public. Sunday's program also includes awards for every olive grower taking part, "premiazione di tutti gli olivicoltori."
Saturday evening belongs to families. The Reggello primary-school awards are at 18:45, followed by a Halloween kids' party at 19:00 with a pumpkin workshop. WikiPedro, the Florentine content creator, appears on Sunday afternoon. His announced time differs between ReOlio's own pages, so check the program on the day.
The fair also sends visitors out into the countryside the oil comes from. Four guided visits require registration through ReOlio's site:
The schedule allows one morning tour and one afternoon tour on each day, with the market in between. A visitor with a full weekend could see all four. For anyone who would rather travel through the groves under their own power, ASD Babbobike leads a Pedalata tra gli oliveti, a bike ride through the olive groves, on Saturday at 14:30.
ReOlio opens Reggello's oil season. The pressing runs well past it. Over the border in Umbria, the 29th edition of Frantoi Aperti runs across five weekends from October 17 to November 15. That leaves three weekends from the date of this post: Oct 31–Nov 1, Nov 7–8 and Nov 14–15.
For households with a few trees of their own, the mill calendar matters more than any festival. Frantoio Maddii in Levane, in the province of Arezzo, posted on October 1 that it is taking reservations for private milling for the 2026–27 season. Appointments are arranged by phone or email. The notice gives no minimum quantity and no rates, so ask about both when you book. In a year forecast to run well above average, slots at the press may be in demand.
At the press, each batch settles Cesani's "incognita" with two weights: the olives that go in and the oil that comes out.
A house in the Tuscan hills often comes with a grove, and with it the question of who harvests, who presses and where the oil goes. If you are weighing a property where that rhythm is part of daily life, Peter Kempf International can arrange a discreet conversation about Tuscan estates and the practical side of owning one. Request private access to listings.
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