Agorà Festival

A Square of Ideas in the Heart of Cesena

Agorà Festival is the cultural event that transforms Cesena, a city in the province of Forlì-Cesena in Emilia-Romagna, into a grand contemporary agora: a space for meeting, dialogue, and discussion on the challenges of our time. Conceived, designed, and organized by Editori Laterza and promoted by the Municipality of Cesena, the festival revives the ancient Greek concept of the agora, a place for debate and active citizenship, bringing it into the theaters, libraries, and historic palaces of this Romagna city.

A Program to Understand the Present

For three days, the city hosts lectures, dialogues, interviews, and staged readings, all centered around a key to understanding contemporary issues. The first edition in 2025 was dedicated to the theme Fragility: The Challenges of the Present, examining the fragility of individuals, communities, economies, and democracies. The program is divided into numerous distinct formats designed to guide the audience in exploring the theme, including Nella storia (In History), Cose dell'altro mondo (Things from Another World), Pro e contro (Pros and Cons), Reading, Parole pericolose (Dangerous Words), All'orizzonte (On the Horizon), and Interviste (Interviews).

Guests and Personalities

Scholars, writers, journalists, and leading communicators take turns on the festival stage. The event has already hosted high-profile figures such as historian Alessandro Barbero, linguist Vera Gheno, historian Benedetta Tobagi, writer Fabio Geda, and other prominent personalities from Italian public life, capable of engaging a vast and diverse audience.

The Festival Venues

The events take place in some of Cesena's most representative locations: the 18th-century Teatro Alessandro Bonci, the Palazzo del Ridotto with its Sala Sozzi, and the renowned Biblioteca Malatestiana, Europe's first civic library and a UNESCO Memory of the World Register site. This setting connects the debate on ideas with the city's rich historical and cultural heritage.

A Project for the City

Agorà Festival is part of the cultural initiatives of the Cesena area and receives support from the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cesena, and the Chamber of Commerce of Romagna. The event aims to strengthen the city's identity and its vocation for fostering widespread opportunities for meeting, culture, and civic participation.