Piazza Grande is the social and architectural heart of Locarno — a broad, arcaded square that opens directly onto the northern shore of Lake Maggiore. The surrounding buildings, with their painted facades and ground-floor arcades, create one of the most photogenic public spaces in Switzerland. The square works at all times: morning coffee under the arcades, lunch in the sun, evening aperitivo at one of the many bars.
In August the square is transformed for the Locarno Film Festival, one of the oldest film festivals in the world, when an enormous screen goes up and films are screened to thousands of people sitting in the open air. The rest of the year it is simply a very pleasant piazza, with a daily market and a constant flow of visitors from the lake promenade.