Italy's annual treat for India returns once again this year, this time as Italian Festival/Festa Italiana 2006. The month-long trade and cultural event will offer its unique view of Italy in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. This year, the Italian Festival/Festa Italiana will be jointly organised by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) and the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce. The festival aims at fostering trade and cultural relations between India and Italy for the mutual development of both countries.

The Italian Festival/Festa Italiana 2006 will be held from November 3rd to December 16th in all the five metros. The festival will also pave the way for the forthcoming visit of the Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, in the next year, 2007, which has been declared the Year of Italy in India.

The co-organisers of the Italian Festival/Festa Italiana 2006 are ENIT (the Italian Tourist Board) and the Italian Cultural Institute (in Delhi). The event has the patronage of the Embassy of Italy and the Consulates General of Italy in Mumbai and Kolkata.

The country-wide festival will cover the best of Italy, ranging from food and wine, music and fashion accessories to tourism and educational opportunities in Italy, not to mention trade and industry.

Among the festival's cultural highlights will be a concert by Teatro Regio di Parma, a renowned opera company in Parma, workshops on contemporary Italian literature, an Italian week for promoting the country's cuisine in five-star restaurants, an expo of the country's food products and an exhibition of fashion accessories by Roberta di Camerino, leading Italian fashion designer.

Italy will be partner country at Indiachem 2006 in Mumbai, an exhibition of Italian companies, b2b meetings and technical seminars. In addition to this, seminars, conferences and exhibitions will be held on textile and woodworking machinery, Italian wines, furniture, jewellery design, tourism, footwear, ceramic tiles glazing and automotive design. These events are aimed at increasing networks beween Indian and Italian business operators. An Italian universities road show will also be held in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, to promote a programme offering generous scholarships to Indian postgraduate students.