The Darsena del Parco Ciani is preparing to return to the spotlight of the Lugano autumn with the fourth edition of Market in Darsena Lugano, an initiative promoted by the City of Lugano to support micro-entrepreneurship and create new opportunities for meeting between those who produce and those who seek locally made products.

The event will kick off on Saturday, September 12th and run until Sunday, October 25th, with six weekends of opening and a break on the weekend of September 26th and 27th, when StraLugano will take place in Lugano. The Darsena spaces will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.

The new edition brings a significant figure: 45 microenterprises will be involved. Of these, 39 had already participated in at least one previous edition and have decided to return. This fact, beyond the numbers, speaks to the continuity of a project that began as an experimental initiative and has gradually become a recurring event in the city's programming.

From sales to building professional relationships

The Mercato in Darsena formula is based on exhibitor rotation. It's not a market with a fixed offering, but a space that changes from week to week, allowing a larger number of micro-entrepreneurs to showcase their products.

The goal isn't just to provide a place to sell. The City of Lugano's project is also linked to professional development: the Darsena becomes a point of contact with the public, useful for gathering opinions, assessing interest in specific products, sharing their work, and increasing the visibility of businesses that are often very small.

The rotation also impacts the offerings for visitors. Those returning on a subsequent weekend can find different exhibitors, with new creations and new personal journeys to explore. The commercial dimension thus combines with a relational dimension and the opportunity to discover businesses operating in Ticino's creative economy.

A showcase for productions conceived in Ticino

The offering includes various categories of products. Among the products offered are clothing and accessories, jewelry, homewares, personal care items, candles, essences, perfumes, and stationery.

The common thread is limited-edition production and a strong connection to the region: the creations are conceived or created in Ticino. The event thus connects the public with a segment of production that is difficult to accommodate through mass distribution.

For microbusinesses, the opportunity to directly present their work also serves a communication function. The product is accompanied by the story of the person who conceived or created it, offering visitors the opportunity to learn not only about the product itself, but also about the professional journey that preceded it.

Support for skills

With its fourth edition, the project also expands its training component. The organizers invited exhibitors to learn about entrepreneurship training opportunities available in the area. Some participants subsequently chose to pursue specific courses to strengthen their skills.

This shift further shifts the meaning of the initiative: the market isn't just seen as a temporary opportunity for exposure, but as a potential stepping stone in a broader professional journey.

The City has also prepared a manual for participants. The document contains practical guidelines for the exhibition experience and addresses aspects such as space organization, communication, and public reception. The guidelines can also be used after the event has concluded, in the day-to-day management of individual activities.

The goal of micro-entrepreneurship

The Mercato in Darsena project is part of the City of Lugano's broader policy dedicated to employment, self-entrepreneurship, and inclusion. The City itself describes the initiative as a tool to enhance local creative output, support professional development, and foster connections between micro-enterprises, residents, and visitors.

"Mercato in Darsena means providing space and opportunity to those who choose to invest in their ideas and turn them into a professional project," emphasizes Lorenzo Quadri, Municipal Councillor and Head of the Department of Education, Support, and Social Affairs. According to Quadri, the administration's commitment also includes creating concrete opportunities through which these businesses can gain exposure, develop, and identify new prospects.

The project is therefore positioned at the intersection of social policies, skills development, and support for the local economy. This dimension extends beyond the duration of individual weekends and explains the choice to accompany the exhibition with tools for professional growth.

Books are also part of the project

Alongside the micro-enterprise stalls, the collaboration with Agorateca will also return , with a space dedicated to the free circulation of books.

The volumes made available come from donations from citizens and associations. Visitors can choose from the available books by leaving a symbolic contribution of 2 francs. This formula aims to encourage reuse and put publications that might otherwise remain unused back into circulation.

The previous edition's response was impressive: approximately 900 books found new readers . This data helps define a second component of the initiative, linked to cultural sharing and the possibility of transforming a previously read object into a new reading opportunity.

Six weekends to discover different proposals

The autumn calendar is divided into six events:

  • 12 and 13 September
  • 19 and 20 September
  • 3 4 and October
  • 10 11 and October
  • 17 18 and October
  • 24 25 and October

The opening hours will be from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. , both Saturday and Sunday. The weekend of September 26th and 27th is not included in the program. The official dates and times are also confirmed by information published by Ticino Turismo.

The sequential nature of the event allows exhibitors to rotate, making each event potentially different from the last. For the public, this means more opportunities to return to the Darsena and encounter new businesses.

A project between local economy and city life

The uniqueness of Mercato in Darsena lies in the intertwining of economic goals and urban scale. On the one hand, there's the need for a microbusiness to find customers, gain visibility, and experiment with ways to present its work. On the other, there's the use of a public space as a meeting place and a hub for autumn entertainment.

The Darsena del Parco Ciani thus becomes a hub between small-scale production businesses and the public, with a program that changes over the weeks. The focus on local and limited-run production also allows for the promotion of a segment of the market based on design, craftsmanship, and the recognizability of individual creations.

In this sense, the fourth edition represents a consolidation phase. The number of participants, the return of many of the exhibitors already involved, and the introduction of professional support tools indicate the evolution of a project that the City initiated as an experiment and which now occupies a more defined space in the city's offerings.

The Lugano autumn calendar

With Mercato in Darsena Lugano , September and October will offer a recurring event dedicated to independent Ticino production. Visitors will be able to alternate visiting the stands with discovering the various participating companies, with the opportunity to meet those involved in the design and production of the products.

The initiative is promoted and coordinated by the LuganoNetWork sector of the Social Affairs Division , in collaboration with the Events and Congresses Division of the City of Lugano.

For institutional information on the project, the dedicated page of the City of Lugano is available.