ARGINI Festival — Boretto stop

ARGINI Festival: The Po River as a Diffused Stage

ARGINI Festival is the new cultural project promoted by the Emilia-Romagna Region and curated by ATER Fondazione, in collaboration with the Teatro Sociale of Gualtieri. Launched in 2026 as a traveling format along the course of the great river, the festival is not just a lineup of shows, but an immersive experience that invites the public to move between different places and languages: theatre, music, dance, installations, and participatory performances come to life directly on the banks of the Po River, between the provinces of Reggio Emilia, Parma, and Ferrara.

Boretto, the Inaugural Stop

On June 6th and 7th, 2026, ARGINI Festival begins its journey in Boretto, in the Bassa Reggiana area, province of Reggio Emilia (Emilia-Romagna). For an entire weekend, the town transforms into an open-air stage involving some of its most symbolic places linked to river culture: the Po Museum, Lido Po, and the historic motor ship Padus, from which you can sail the river during one of the concerts.

The Weekend Program

Saturday, June 6th, begins in the afternoon at the Po Museum with "A Cup of Sea in a Storm" by the Compagnia Abbiati Schlosser, a small theatrical installation freely inspired by Herman Melville's Moby Dick, where the audience enters as if into the hold of a whaling ship. In the evening, at 8 PM, board the motor ship Padus for the concert by Banadisa, a project blending electronics, visceral rhythms, and singer-songwriter folklore; at 10 PM, the party continues at the Lido Po Dance Floor with the DJ Show by the Sotterraneo collective, a mix between a theatrical performance and a DJ set. On Sunday, June 7th, the festival culminates at 9:30 PM at the Po Museum, in front of the historic Secchia steam dredger, with the Tribute to Miles Davis by the Toscanini Academy Big Band and trumpeter Fabrizio Bosso, marking the centenary of the great jazz musician's birth.

A Journey Along the River

The Boretto stop is just the beginning of a journey that, from June 6th to August 1st, 2026, will cross several riverside municipalities between Reggio Emilia and Parma — Luzzara, Gualtieri, Sorbolo Mezzani, and Guastalla — before concluding in the autumn in Goro and Mesola, in the Po Delta in the province of Ferrara. Each stop brings shows designed to interact with the landscape and the history of the villages crossed by the great river.

Why It's Worth Going

• The inaugural stop of a new diffused festival initiated by the Emilia-Romagna Region
• A concert aboard the motor ship Padus, sailing on the Po River
• The tribute to Miles Davis with Fabrizio Bosso on the centenary of the jazz musician's birth
• A weekend to discover Boretto, its river landscape, and the Po Museum

The Boretto stop is an invitation to experience the Po River not just as a natural element, but as a vibrant space for culture, encounters, and wonder.