Cesena Graphic Arts Festival 2026: B2B merchandising for print shops, fine-art print studios, graphic designers, illustration schools, specialist press, institutional sponsors

B2B merchandising for the Cesena Graphic Arts Festival 2026

Dates

Autumn fine-art print showcase on the Italian calendar, scheduled between September and October. The official calendar, edition theme and full venue list of the circuit are published on the festival website before the opening. The usual window falls between the second half of September and the end of October, with an opening that may run for up to four weeks for the main exhibitions and the studios’ open studios.

Venues

Cesena city circuit, the Rocca Malatestiana as the historic main venue, the historic centre as the symbolic opening space, the Biblioteca Malatestiana as the editorial presentation venue, the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna — Cesena detached campus as the educational section venue, the Galleria Comunale d’Arte as the collateral exhibitions venue, the historic print shops and studios of the area as the open-studio venues.

Circuit

Rocca Malatestiana — Sala delle Arti, Cortile d’Onore, Torre dell’Orologio, Biblioteca Malatestiana — Sala Lignea, historic centre (Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Bufalini, Corso Garibaldi), Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna — Cesena campus, Galleria Comunale d’Arte, historic print shops of the province (Stab. Tip. Modenese, Tipografia Benini, Litografia Segni), fine-art print studios of Romagna.

Organiser

Associazione Cesena Stampa, with the collaboration of the Comune di Cesena, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Ministry of Culture, Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna, University of Bologna — Department of Visual Arts, Italian graphic industry associations (Assografici, ATIEF, Sindacato Tipografi Italiani, Centro Studi Stampatori d’Arte) and international partner fine-art print festivals (Il Bisonte Florence, Grafische Internationale Berlin, World Press Photo Amsterdam, Graphische Werkstatt Vienna, Tama Art University Tokyo).

The Cesena Graphic Arts Festival — showcase dedicated to fine-art print, chalcography, artistic serigraphy, author typography, graphic design and illustration held in Cesena since 2012 — runs a calendar of fine-art print exhibitions, an open-studio programme for the studios of the province, portfolio reviews coordinated with gallerists and editorial series directors, graphics editorial launches, focused sections on a print technique or a graphic movement, a section dedicated to emerging designers under 35, a specific section for digital print and new fine-art print practices with additive technologies, and a specific attention to paper, ink, limited print runs and printing as an art form. The festival brings to town graphic designers, series directors, design magazine directors, fine-art printers, illustrators, gallerists, literary agents, critics, columnists, private and institutional collectors that work on the Italian and European graphics axis.

For Italian and European print shops participating in the fine-art print circuit, fine-art print studios and chalcography and artistic serigraphy workshops opening their doors to the public, graphic designers and illustrators presenting portfolios and self-productions, illustration schools and partner fine-arts academies, editorial desks of design and graphics trade and consumer publications, critics’ desks, fine-art print and author multiple collectors, institutional sponsors (Comune di Cesena, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cesena) and corporate sponsors, organisers of the collateral sections that work at the Cesena Graphic Arts Festival, Corp-Merch.IT coordinates from its Milan operational hub a tailor-made programme that opens with the reception of the print shop’s, studio’s, designer’s or sponsor’s graphic files, continues with the adaptation for the various customisation techniques (water-based screen print on GOTS-certified organic cotton for studio-opening shoppers, hot foil stamping on FSC-certified paper for press kits and catalogue booklets, computerised embroidery for premium tote bags, laser engraving on walnut wood or Maniago steel for high-end welcome bags, certified fine-art print on Hahnemühle or Canson paper for limited-edition fine-art prints destined to collectors and acquisitions funds) and ends with the physical pre-production sample, the AQL 2.5 quality control and the delivery to the studio, the designer’s hotel, the press desk, the Rocca Malatestiana or the Biblioteca Malatestiana. For editorial materials and fine-art prints destined to collectors we work with partners specialised in climate-controlled transport, so that catalogues, portfolio dossiers and author’s prints arrive in impeccable condition despite the autumn Po Valley climate.

Invoicing for entities with an Italian VAT number goes out in EUR with 22% VAT through the Exchange System (SdI) of the Agenzia delle Entrate, delivery to the recipient code or certified email provided by the buyer. For editorial catalogues and art materials the reduced VAT rate of 10% applies, for books and art publications the 5%, according to current regulations. Reverse charge for intra-EU buyers registered in the VIES, split payment for public administration entities, recipient code or certified email for electronic invoice delivery. For clients subject to CSRD reporting (D.Lgs. 125/2024, transposing Directive (EU) 2022/2464) we provide a sustainability sheet per order with Scope 3 CO₂e estimate under the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain on internal routes and from the production supply chains stated, in line with ESRS E1, E5 and S2.

Festival calendar and Cesena logistics

The festival calendar falls between September and October and Cesena’s position, a plains town on the A14 between Bologna and Rimini, conditions the last-mile logistics: direct deliveries to the Rocca Malatestiana, to the Biblioteca Malatestiana, to the Accademia di Belle Arti and to the circuit venues must be coordinated with the loading windows published by the festival production; a buffer at a partner hotel in the centre (Hotel Casali, Hotel Alexander, Hotel Nido, Hotel Universal) or at our Milan hub reduces the risk of out-of-window delivery. Late-summer motorway traffic on the A14 Bologna – Ancona and the A1 Milan – Bologna conditions deliveries, and in coincidence with the summer business closures (the first days of September are historically a reopening moment) routes to Cesena may register delays; it is often useful to pair venue delivery with a buffer at an affiliate hotel in the centre of Cesena, a proximity warehouse in the Rocca area and a second delivery to the studio or print shop within the official set-up window, once the production has confirmed the recipient, the gate and the pass. For programmes that span multiple operational venues (Rocca Malatestiana, Biblioteca Malatestiana, studios of the province, Accademia, Galleria Comunale) we prepare separate packing lists for each destination with dedicated labelling of the on-site contact and a per-show calendar.

Production and logistics towards Cesena and the circuit

Before starting production, graphics, quantities per recipient, packaging and named delivery point must be confirmed. Stand, hall, loading gate and on-site contact must be verified against the manual published by the festival production; the Rocca Malatestiana, the Biblioteca Malatestiana and the studios of the province of Cesena are not addresses open to receiving parcels and any address must be tied to a confirmed loading window. The autumn Po Valley climate conditions the delivery windows, and for this reason a buffer at a partner hotel in the centre or a proximity warehouse in the Rocca area often reduces the risk of out-of-window delivery, paired with venue delivery with a phone warning and bilingual packing list addressed to the recipient.

Typical print runs for a Cesena Graphic Arts Festival programme range from three hundred to three thousand pieces per code; editorial catalogues and fine-art prints start at fifty copies; shoppers for studio openings reach two thousand pieces; welcome bags for invited designers sit at one hundred fifty pieces total split by delegation; coordinated drinkware for circuit venues moves between two hundred and five hundred pieces per venue. The optimal production window runs from eight to twelve weeks before opening, with a three-week pre-production window for graphics and a ten-day buffer for physical delivery. For programmes requiring certified fine-art print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag or Canson Baryta Photographique, we add two weeks of drying and one week of climate-chamber conditioning before packaging.

For corporate clients who want a representative kit destined to the festival’s top sponsors, we produce a coordinated set in FSC-certified cardboard with hot foil stamping of the corporate brand and the edition theme: a GOTS-certified organic cotton shopper, an author’s fine-art print in limited edition (three numbered and certified copies with the designer’s signature on the white margin), an editorial volume of the circuit’s book series, a Maniago-steel bottle engraved with the recipient’s name, a leather portfolio folder with inserts in FSC-certified paper. The kit is delivered in a single FSC-certified two-wave cardboard box, book opening, closure ribbons and customised tag.

Payment options include bank transfer at 30 days from invoice date for clients with Italian VAT, 30% advance for the first order, improved conditions after the first 90 days of history. For corporate and institutional clients with a supply contract, a 12-month framework agreement with quarterly review is available. Corp-Merch.IT accepts main credit cards for orders below five thousand euro and coordinates with the client’s reference bank for invoice advances, Ri.Ba and SEPA Direct Debit for recurring clients. The supply contract includes specific confidentiality (NDA) clauses for sensitive commercial materials and a limitation on the client’s designs, graphics and colour combinations agreed for twelve months from delivery.

Frequently asked questions