Every year in May, the calendar of the “Gen. Pietro Zaglio” Alpini Group of Salce has one date marked in red: the National Adunata. Three or four days in which an entire city fills up with feathered hats, brass bands, choirs singing under the arcades and old friends meeting again as if they had parted only the night before.
On this page we have lined up the Adunate of recent years, from Trento to Genoa, with links to the photo galleries in our archive and to the articles that tell their story. It is a small travel diary of the Group: seven cities, two years of enforced silence and always the same wish to be there.
Trento 2018: the 91st Adunata, a hundred years after the Great War
The 91st Adunata took place in Trento from 11 to 13 May 2018, the centenary of the end of the First World War, with a motto that says it all: «For the Alpini nothing is impossible». For our Group it meant four intense days: the base camp at Mezzolombardo, the “Maria Dolens” Bell of the Fallen in Rovereto, Arco, Lake Ledro and a moment of remembrance at the war cemetery of Bondo, among the places where fighting had raged a hundred years earlier.
📷 Photo gallery: National Adunata 2018 – Trento
Milan 2019: the 92nd Adunata, the Centenary Adunata
From 10 to 12 May 2019 the Alpini returned to Milan, the city where the National Alpini Association was founded in 1919. It was the ANA Centenary Adunata: a hundred years of association history celebrated where it all began, with the parade through the heart of the city.
📷 Photo gallery: National Adunata 2019 – Milan
2020 and 2021: the years without an Adunata
Then came the pandemic. In 2020 and 2021 the National Adunata could not take place, something that had not happened since 1950. For two years the Alpini set the celebration aside and rolled up their sleeves in their communities, here in Salce too.
Rimini and San Marino 2022: the 93rd Adunata, the restart
From 5 to 8 May 2022 the 93rd Adunata, postponed for two years, at last brought the Black Feathers to the Romagna Riviera and the Republic of San Marino. For many it was above all the celebration of coming back: seeing each other again, embracing and marching together once more after the long pause.
📷 Photo gallery: National Adunata 2022 – Rimini
Udine 2023: the 94th Adunata, in the heart of Friuli
From 12 to 14 May 2023 the Adunata returned to Friuli, a land that owes much to the Alpini and has given them much, starting with the Julia. For those who come from our mountains, Udine also recalls the 1976 earthquake and the great relief and reconstruction work of the Black Feathers.
📷 Photo gallery: National Adunata 2023 – Udine
Read more: The 1976 Friuli earthquake, fifty years on
Vicenza 2024: the 95th Adunata, in the land of the Pasubio and the Ortigara
From 10 to 12 May 2024 the 95th Adunata was held in Vicenza, a province with a special place in Alpini history: here are the Pasubio, the Ortigara and the Asiago plateau, mountains that became symbols of sacrifice in the Great War and still live on in our songs.
📷 Photo gallery: National Adunata 2024 – Vicenza
Read more: A letter from the Maestro: Bepi De Marzi and the song «Monte Pasubio»
Biella 2025: the 96th Adunata, a return to the roots
From 9 to 11 May 2025 it was Biella’s turn, a city of wool, mountains and great Alpine tradition. We wrote about it before leaving and after coming home, with the certainty we bring back every year: the best Adunata will be the next one.
📷 Photo gallery: National Adunata 2025 – Biella
Read more: The Alpini Adunata in Biella (in Italian) and Che Adunata, ragazzi! (in Italian)
Genoa 2026: the 97th Adunata, the Alpini by the sea
From 8 to 10 May 2026 the Black Feathers came all the way down to the sea, in Genoa. For our Group it meant four days between the Riviera and the city of the Lanterna, told day by day on the website, right up to the great Sunday parade.
📷 Photo gallery: National Adunata 2026 – Genoa
Read more: Adunata Genoa 2026, the day-by-day diary (in Italian) and A Genova, a testa alta! (in Italian)
Why we go every year
Anyone who has never taken part in an Adunata may find it hard to understand why thousands of people, often no longer young, cross Italy to march for a few hours in the sun or the rain. Those who have been there know: the Adunata is the moment when the memory of our fallen, the friendships born during military service and service to our communities come together on the same street, in the same step.
The photographs in our galleries, taken by the members and friends of the Group, tell exactly this: not just a parade, but a piece of the life of the Salce Alpini Group, year after year.
Related article (in Italian): Quarant’anni di Adunate.
Michele Sacchet
Alpini Group “Gen. P. Zaglio” – Salce (BL)
