Ten Italian festival you cannot miss this summer

Before listing the most interesting Italian music festivals of this summer, it’s important to clarify one thing: with a few rare exceptions (Club To Club leading the pack), in Italy the concept of a music festival is quite different from that in foreign countries. To be clear, there is nothing even remotely comparable to the scale of the line-ups at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Glastonbury or Sziget in Budapest, to name just three of Europe’s most famous. The Italian version often stems from a semantic misunderstanding. Theoretically, in its original form, a festival should consist of at least two or three consecutive days of music, during which multiple artists perform one after the other on the same stage, or on several stages at once depending on the size of the line-up. In Italy, this format only exists in a downsized version. To make up for this lack, the strategy developed over the years has been to distort the concept of a festival, turning it into a showcase—a series of standalone concerts spread out over a longer (or shorter) period. Examples include the Lucca Summer Festival or Idays Fest in Milan, which originally started as a true three-day festival but now stretches across all three summer months, from early June to the end of August.

That said, Italy still offers smaller-scale festivals with well-curated line-ups and particularly atmospheric locations. On the contrary, this year too our peninsula boasts a remarkable and diverse selection of genuine festivals, capable of catering to (almost) every taste. We’ve selected ten, but rest assured there are many more waiting to be discovered.

MEDIMEX, June 17–21, Taranto (TA)

Kicking off this week, the Medimex in Taranto aims to become a beacon of Southern Italy. Its strength lies in offering relatively big names at ultra-competitive, affordable prices, following a “few but great” policy: this year in particular will feature performances by Primal Scream, St. Vincent, and Massive Attack, with tickets around 30 euros per night—unmatched by Italian concert standards. Medimex isn’t just live music though; it’s a true “music fair”, packed with events including panels, book presentations, workshops, talks, film screenings, and photography exhibitions (this year dedicated to Amy Winehouse). If you’re in the area—or even if you’re not—it’s worth considering.

La Prima Estate, June 20–22 and 27–29, Lido di Camaiore (LU)

La Prima Estate is a relatively young festival held in Versilia that has already stirred up much discussion—for better and for worse. On the positive side, there’s the location: Parco Bussola Domani sits directly in front of the Camaiore seafront, making it easy to enjoy a swim and half a day at the beach before heading to the concerts. An undeniable perk in the scorching summer heat. On the downside, the audience has occasionally reported excessive discomfort due to overcrowding on certain days. However, these issues seem to have been resolved in the latest edition. The festival format splits the event into two long weekends, Friday through Sunday, spaced one week apart. The line-up is for refined tastes, mixing indie rock (Mogwai, Spiritualized, St. Vincent, and TV On The Radio), French touch (Air), dance (Grace Jones), Italian singer-songwriters (Lucio Corsi), and a proper club night (Moodyman).

Terraforma Exo, June 28–29, Milan (+ September 27 in Rome and October 25 in Palermo)

Terraforma has never been a typical festival, but rather a full-blown 360° sensory experience aimed at harmoniously blending music, environment, and memory. Today, it describes itself as “a platform for experimentation in sound and ecology.” Since last year, the magical venue of Villa Arconati has unfortunately been replaced by the more central Parco Sempione, but this hasn’t diminished the festival’s charm. With sound walks and various experimental acts, this year’s program includes a live set by Laura Agnusdei revisiting John Cage’s Fontana Mix, a performance by Lorenzo Senni [“Eureka!” (Mix Legacy 2011–2025)], and the anti-colonialist audio-environmental project of Bill Kouligas & Forensis. In addition to its Milan chapter, the format extends this year with two more editions in Rome (featuring Nkisi and Underground Resistance) and Palermo (featuring Moritz von Oswald and Rrose), in September and October respectively.

Monitor, July 10–11, Turin (TO)

As many already know, the city of Turin this year has lost its historic TOdays Festival, which was finally laid to rest after a painful decline last year. But from the ashes of what was long considered the best indie-rock festival at summer’s end arises a new creature more attuned to global sounds: Monitor. With a curious and eclectic line-up ranging from the post-punk of Shame to the ancestral jazz of Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab. Also featured are indietronica pianist Maria Chiara Argirò – a Roman based in London – and local punk band Cherry Pies, as the festival’s name reflects the fusion of distant sonic worlds, derived from the words: MONdo (world), ITalia, and TORino.

The venues are the same as those of the old TOdays. The artistic direction by Gianluca Gozzi and the passion remain unchanged.

Secolare, July 24-27, Alta Murgia, Corato (BA)

On its website, the Secolare Festival presents itself as a "boutique festival", that is a small, human-scale festival aiming to offer an immersive experience of musical discovery within an extraordinary natural setting, specifically the Alta Murgia National Park (UNESCO Geopark), inside a farmhouse in the municipality of Corato. The area is rich in rock churches and ancient medieval castles, and through the festival's website it is possible to book trekking routes, e-bike rides, horse excursions, etc. And the music? Refinement and expertise are unquestionable. Just to name a few, there are some phenomena of underground indie rock — Christopher Owens and bdrmm — as well as the king of trance Lorenzo Senni and the Guatemalan cellist heir of Arthur Russell, Mabe Fratti, whom the luckiest have already seen at the latest Club To Club. We don’t have space to name them all, but these are people who really know their stuff. Trust us.

Ypsigrock, August 7-10, Castelbuono (PA)

Ypsigrock is simply the best indie-rock festival in Italy, a quality also recognized by the foreign press, see the Guardian’s praise from a few years ago. The festival has been held for nearly 30 years in a small Sicilian medieval village in the province of Palermo (PA), nestled inside the Madonie Park, just a few kilometers from the beaches of Cefalù. The lineup is always top level: like a small Primavera Sound, if the latter hadn’t abandoned the centrality of guitars and sold its soul to the devil of pop. The motto: never repeat yourself. This year among many names stand out the project of Julian Casablancas of The Strokes (Voidz), Porridge Radio, and some of the best female groups around: from the wild queer punk Lambrini Girls to the folk-experimental reflections of Cocorosie, there’s enough to cover the widest possible spectrum of emotions.

Festivalle, August 8-11, Agrigento (AG)

Following the success of Ypsigrock, another Sicilian festival, Festivalle, has started to make its way into the hearts of music lovers. The area is Agrigento, this year Italy’s Capital of Culture, and specifically the wonderful Valley of the Temples, from which the festival also took its name. If the scenery of the natural ancient theaters is not enough to convince you, there’s also the possibility to see some performances at dawn and sunset, making the experience even more evocative. The opening act will be Vinicio Capossela, but the lineup is fresh and varied, ranging from Detroit techno by Carl Craig, to the funk of Fearless Flyers, to the electronic jazz of Cinematic Orchestra.

Color Fest, August 12-14, Lamezia Terme (CZ)

New location for the historic Calabrian festival Color Fest, now in its 13th edition, which this year will take place on the seafront of Lamezia Terme, in that stretch of coast overlooking the Gulf of Sant’Eufemia. The lineup combines old and new names of the Italian indie scene with the best of contemporary international post-punk. On the Italian side stand out, among others, two stars of the latest Sanremo festival — Lucio Corsi and Joan Thiele — as well as Populous, Giorgio Poi, and the historic Offlaga Disco Pax. As for international guests, guaranteed fun with the incendiary performances of Murder Capital and Shame (already in Italy as supporting bands for Fontaines D.C.).

Jazz:Re:Found, August 27-31, Cella Monte (AL)

For jazz lovers there are various options, but if we have to choose, we recommend Jazz:Re:Found, a small Piedmontese festival born in Vercelli and now established in the Monferrato area. For those who don’t know it, the venue — no coincidence a UNESCO heritage site — is breathtakingly beautiful. The very rich lineup is no less impressive. Inspired this year by the theme of Afro-futurism of Sun Ra – Space is the Place (?) – it welcomes artists from all over the world, from Brazil to Congo, trying to combine contemporary jazz and Club Culture. Impossible to list all the names, but among many a special mention goes to the three headliners: Obongjaya (already working with Little Simz and Fred Again), Róisín Murphy, and Seun Kuti & Egypt 80.

Also not to be missed is the visual installation by Shiro Fujioka — Ancestral Intelligence — which attempts in its own way to answer the central question of this edition, seeking it between space and earth.

Spring Attitude, September 12-13, Rome (RM)

Although the festival is no longer what it used to be — strictly linked to clubbing — and no longer held in spring, Spring Attitude has nevertheless kept its name and spirit. This year again it offers a spectacular lineup for lovers of sounds at the crossroads between club, electronic, Italian indie, and avant-garde. Among the many names stand out the DJ sets by Apparat and Bicep on the more dancy side, and those by Giorgio Poi, Post Nebbia, and La Rappresentante di Lista on the so-called Italian alt-pop front. Between these two extremes, you can really find everything: disco, funk, house, psychedelia, punk, folk, etc.

The location has also changed: it’s no longer Cinecittà, but the so-called Nuvola, the imposing architectural structure in EUR designed by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas. If in September you don’t feel like jumping straight back into work mode, this is the perfect chance to give your brain some fresh air and make your legs fly several meters above the ground.