Valdese (/ˈvældis/ VAL-dees)[4] is a town in Burke County, North Carolina, United States.

The town was settled by immigrants from the Cottian Alps in the Piedmont region of Italy.

[6] The story of the town's founding is told in the outdoor drama From This Day Forward, which has been performed annually in Burke County since 1968.

[7] In addition to Waldensian Presbyterian Church, the Jean-Pierre Auguste Dalmas House and Valdese Elementary School are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Interstate 40 runs along the southern border of the town, providing access from exits 111 and 112.

[9] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,689 people, 1,545 households, and 1,104 families residing in the town.

The town has an Italian-based flag, Italian restaurants and bakeries are in abundance in the Valdese area, and in addition to an Italian immigrant and second and third-generation Italian-American community, there is a large Hmong-American (Southeast Asian ethnic group whom has origins in Laos, Thailand, China, and Vietnam, and Xieng Khouang Market Place, a Hmong/Southeast Asian based store, is located in Valdese proper.