Apriti Bosco Festival

A festival born within a forest

Apriti Bosco Festival is the event that every June enlivens the Caterina Novi Integral Forest in Cento, a town in the province of Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna. This is not a festival hosted in just any space: the Integral Forest is the first urban regeneration area in Cento's historic centre, a place created to mend the relationship between people and nature, and the festival is its most vibrant and participatory manifestation of the year.

The event is organized by the Caterina Novi Foundation ETS, the entity that manages the forest, combining environmental protection, social inclusion, and cultural activities. All proceeds from the festival go to the Integral Forest project, a space for integration between people and nature. This is not a minor detail: those who participate not only attend a show but also contribute to the growth of a common good.

Two weekends, a diffused program

Apriti Bosco's format is a program spread across the forest paths: instead of a single stage, the experience unfolds among clearings, tree-lined paths, and green corners, hosting a succession of concerts, conferences, outdoor cinema screenings, workshops, theatrical performances, artistic performances, and immersive installations. You walk, stop to listen, enter a workshop, and then return to the evening's music.

The days usually follow a precise rhythm: the morning is dedicated to well-being and connection with nature, the afternoon to outreach with talks and meetings with environmental and health experts, and the evening to entertainment with concerts, DJ sets, shows, and screenings. It's a way to experience the whole day without ever leaving the forest.

Music, nature, community

Music is the pulsating heart of the festival, with a program ranging from Italian indie-pop to funk, from electronic music to singer-songwriter genres. Alongside concerts, ample space is dedicated to conferences and talks on environmental issues, scientific outreach, workshops for children and adults, and outdoor cinema, often featuring short films on environmental themes.

Completing the offering is a creative market with crafts, live painting, live portraits, photo booths, and personalized prints, while the Integral Forest's kitchen remains open every evening as a space for meeting and conviviality. The entire festival is Plastic Free and enjoys the patronage of the Emilia-Romagna Region and the Municipality of Cento.

Free admission, inclusive spirit

Apriti Bosco has free admission: anyone can enter and experience the forest. Some workshops and wellness activities require a small contribution, but the underlying philosophy remains one of accessibility and inclusion, values that the Caterina Novi Foundation upholds all year round and which find their most festive expression during the festival.