Ancona History Festival

A festival that tells History in Ancona

The Ancona History Festival is one of the most anticipated cultural events in the capital of the Marche region. Every year, at the beginning of September, the Mole Vanvitelliana — the imposing 18th-century lazaretto overlooking the port of Ancona — transforms into a large laboratory of thought, where history meets current events. Four days of lectures, dialogues, round tables, and author encounters attract a large and curious audience to the heart of the city, made up of students, enthusiasts, and ordinary citizens.

The 2026 theme: "Madness"

The 2026 edition, the eighth of the event, is dedicated to the theme of "Madness". The common thread explores the thin and shifting line between normality and abyss: political crises, ideological fanaticisms, collective illusions, but also those insights considered mad by contemporaries that later proved far-sighted, necessary, or even decisive. History, as the organizers remind us, is rarely a linear account of reason: it is rather the place of its fractures.

Speakers and protagonists

The Ancona History Festival stands out for the caliber of its guests, who bring together academics, disseminators, and prominent national journalists. Among the names announced for the 2026 edition are historians and scholars such as Marcello Flores, Paolo Pombeni, Piero Ignazi, Federico Romero, Claudia Cieri Via, sociologist Luigi Manconi, writer Mario Desiati, and journalist Antonio Carioti of Corriere della Sera, alongside numerous other speakers. Special attention is given to the link between Ancona and the Napoleonic legacy, on the occasion of the city's entry into the European Federation of Napoleonic Cities (FECN).

The Mole Vanvitelliana, heart of the festival

The choice of the Mole Vanvitelliana is no coincidence: this pentagonal building, designed by Luigi Vanvitelli in the mid-18th century as a lazaretto, is today one of the main cultural spaces in Ancona and the Marche region. Its courtyards and halls host the festival's meetings, creating a suggestive atmosphere between walls steeped in history and the view of the Doric port.

An event for the whole city

Promoted by the Municipality of Ancona, the History Festival has grown edition after edition to become a benchmark for historical dissemination in the Marche region. All meetings are free admission and no reservation required, in a spirit of openness and accessibility that is an integral part of the event's identity. For Ancona, a candidate for cultural enhancement initiatives, the festival also represents a piece of its profile as a city of culture.