A Sea of Culture

A Sea of Culture: bringing culture to the beach

A Sea of Culture is a widespread summer festival that transforms the public beaches of Ostia Ponente into a large open-air stage every weekend. Part of the Estate Romana (Roman Summer) program, the initiative is promoted by the Department of Culture of Rome Capital together with the Department of Heritage and Housing Policies, in collaboration with the Rome X Municipality, the Teatro del Lido di Ostia, the Rome Library Institution, and the Elsa Morante Library. It is a way to bring the cultural programming of the Municipality of Rome out of the city center and directly onto the shoreline.

Where it takes place

The heart of the festival is the Lungomare Duca degli Abruzzi, but events are spread throughout the Ponente stretch, also involving the Idroscalo area and the evocative Piccola Oasi of Stella Polare. The format is that of a widespread event: you move from one beach to another following the program, with the sea as the natural backdrop for every performance. All events are free of charge and designed for audiences of all ages.

The program

Throughout the summer weekends, different genres and artistic languages alternate in a deliberately multidisciplinary program:

• Live performances and theater curated by the Teatro del Lido di Ostia;
• Music and DJ sets at sunset, with concerts and listening sessions on the sand;
• Dance and performances spread along the shoreline;
• Readings for children, juggling, and local entertainment, with numerous activities dedicated to families;
• Literary meetings and presentations with authors, in collaboration with Rome's libraries;
• Light sports and beach games, from paddleball to beach volleyball.

Among the events that have defined the festival is the Punta Sacra Film Fest, featuring free screenings in Piazza dei Piroscafi at the Idroscalo in Ostia, a testament to the cinematic vocation of an area linked to the memory of Pier Paolo Pasolini.

A project for Rome's coastline

Launched in 2025 as an inaugural edition and repeated in 2026, the festival aims to restore cultural centrality to the Roman coastline and its public beaches, which are often perceived as peripheral compared to the rest of the capital. Bringing theater, music, literature, and cinema to the beach means bringing culture closer to the people who frequent Rome's seaside while simultaneously enhancing Ostia as a community space. The festival is thus part of the wider summer offerings of the Lazio region, standing out as one of the most original proposals of the season on the coast of the Metropolitan City of Rome.