With its mild Mediterranean climate, fabulous cuisine, and fantastic array of indoor and al fresco venues, Puglia is an ideal location for your event. Whether that’s a wedding, business conference or cultural event, the region offers excellent facilities and experienced planners who can ensure everything runs smoothly. The region is also well connected with international airports at Bari and Brindisi providing excellent transport links.
Puglia offers the full range of venues, from city-centre business hotels to gorgeous seaside resorts, from medieval castles to baroque palaces. Particularly popular are the region’s atmospheric masserie. These are ancient farmsteads that have been converted into hotels and resorts. Many boast excellent business facilities as well as bucolic grounds ideal for weddings and romantic receptions. You’ll find masserie dotted around the region, with some of the best in the Itria Valley and at Savelletri near Fasano.
Fabulous food is an integral part of the Puglia package. The region produces a wonderful seasonal larder for its army of chefs who are well-practised in event catering, whether that’s serving a ceremonial wedding banquet or orchestrating dinner for a thousand conference-goers. Cooking classes and food tours are great group activities that work well as team-building exercises or as fun outings for wedding guests.
Puglia is becoming an increasingly popular MICE destination, offering good transport links, inspirational venues, professional service and certified technical support. It’s particularly well-suited to small to medium-sized events but can also cater to larger gatherings. For more detailed information, check out www.weareinpuglia.it, which has comprehensive information about the region, including useful contact details and accommodation lists.
A recurring feature of many Pugliese cityscapes are the castles that loom over their historic centres. Ranging from hilltop forts to portside sentinels, these castelli provide epic settings for conferences and meetings. A good example is the Castle of Charles V in Lecce. Further north in Bari, you can give free reign to your creativity at the city’s celebrated opera house. The Teatro Petruzzelli, Italy’s fourth largest theatre, sets a dramatic stage and has seating for 1500 people. Nearby, the Teatro Margherita has space available for events overlooking the sea.
Puglia’s great outdoors provides multiple opportunities for team-building fun. To shape a crew ready to tackle new challenges and stormy seas, there’s wonderful sailing on the region’s waters. For land lubbers, you can take to the countryside on horseback, cruise around the Itria Valley in a vintage convertible, or pedal along on a cycle tour. For an altogether different experience, you could learn how to make orecchiette pasta and other regional dishes by taking cooking classes.
Once you’ve finished the business of the day, there are many opportunities for excursions to Puglia’s historic towns and natural sites. Alternatively, you could take a tour of local wineries or olive oil producers to sample their wares straight from the press.
Time your trip right and you could catch one of Puglia’s great annual events. The region has a full calendar of food fairs, religious ceremonies, music fests and traditional celebrations, ranging from spooky Easter processions to wild summer concerts.
Follow in the footsteps of Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Willem Dafoe, Maggie Gyllenhaal and tie the knot in Puglia. The region has all the ingredients for a spectacular wedding – stylish and romantic venues, high-quality accommodation and English-speaking professionals ready to help plan every detail. Puglia also has a long history of hospitality and civil ceremonies can be provided as well as religious services for all faiths.
Puglia’s iconic masserie are among the region’s hottest wedding venues right now. They’re ideal for hosting traditional Pugliese weddings, complete with al fresco dining, beautiful country-chic backdrops, and, of course, plenty of music and dance. Organisers can set you up with local musicians but for a truly unforgettable experience go for a band specialising in the pizzica. This traditional Pugliese folk music will have your guests up and dancing in seconds with its surging beats and infective rhythms.
To add a touch of movie magic to your big day, go for a beach wedding. There are numerous resorts and masserie in the region which have private beaches and staff skilled in organising seaside weddings. Prime areas to consider include the Gargano, Polignano a Mare, and the sun-kissed Salento in the south of the heel.
For an exotic and brilliantly unconventional location, you can’t beat a trullo. With their pointy drystone roofs, these ancient whitewashed houses are unique to the Itria Valley, about an hour’s drive south of Bari. Several venues in the area boast their own trulli.
As well as venues, music and food, Puglia’s got your wardrobe covered too. The region’s designers create some of Italy’s most in-demand bridal fashions. The town of Putignano is renowned for its bespoke wedding dresses, while ateliers in Martina Franca produce gowns for a number of big international designers.
For bouquets and floral arrangements, Terlizzi is the place to go. Dubbed the ‘city of flowers’, the town is known for its greenhouses and nurseries and you’ll find a number of flower designers ready to advise and cater to your floral requests.
To round off your Puglia trip on a high note, follow your wedding with a honeymoon in the region. Depending on your style, that could be a dreamy beachside holiday, a cultured city break, a regional road trip or an adrenalin-soaked activity vacation.
Strategically located on the Bari waterfront, the Centro Congressi Fiera del Levante is Puglia’s largest events venue. The sprawling site, within easy reach of the city centre, boasts 300,000 sq m of exhibition space and has up to 24 meeting rooms with seating capacity from 40 to 4000 people. Its main exhibition hall is a contemporary multifunctional space furnished with support facilities and cutting-edge conference technology.
Puglia’s shops and markets provide plenty of scope for souvenir-hunting. From designer boutiques showcasing the latest fashions to artisanal workshops selling hand-crafted ceramics or delis specialising in local delicacies, you’re sure to find something to take home.
As well as professional service, Puglia’s venues provide the latest tech, ranging from free wifi to microphones, monitors and maxi-screens. Audio and visual systems can be provided along with teams of support staff to help with any hitches. Simultaneous translation is offered by some of the larger venues.
Nowhere puts on a better wedding spread than Puglia. Typically your feast will start with an aperitif and a lavish antipasto buffet. This might include freshly-made mozzarella, local cold cuts, tempura-fried seafood and panzerotti made to order. After this, you’ll probably be invited to take your seat for the formal meal. This will usually comprise a choice of fresh pasta dishes, meat or fish mains, and a sumptuous selection of desserts. Events will eventually culminate with the ceremonial cutting of the wedding cake.
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