Aria Festival

An Apennine village turned artist residency

Aria Festival is the cultural event that brings Antrodoco to life, a small town of just over two thousand inhabitants nestled in the Velino Valley, in the province of Rieti, in the heart of the Apennine Lazio region. At an altitude of about 500 metres, some twenty kilometres from Rieti, the village opens up every summer to shows, concerts, and workshops that involve its squares, cloisters, and the alleys of the historic centre. Aria is much more than a festival: it is a project that aims to make Antrodoco an international residency for artists, fostering a dialogue between creatives, the local community, and the mountain landscape.

Two festivals, one breath

Aria's calendar is divided into two major events that mark the summer. The Performing Art Festival, usually held between late June and mid-July, is dedicated to contemporary performing arts: physical theatre, dance, contemporary circus, urban performance, and new technologies. The Music Festival, in August, offers a sonic journey ranging from jazz to world music, from classical to electronic fusions, with a special focus on avant-garde music and young talent.

The Performing Art Festival

The theatrical chapter of Aria, curated by the artistic direction of Ondadurto Teatro, goes beyond just scheduling shows. Residential masterclasses, meetings with artists, and workshops open to students and enthusiasts revolve around the evening events, creating a continuous blend of training and performance. Guest companies arrive from all over Europe and beyond, bringing languages that combine body, image, sound, and virtual reality to Antrodoco.

The Music Festival

The musical side, under the artistic direction of Matteo D'Incà, has turned the Cloister of Santa Chiara and the village squares into a refined listening space. The festival offers high-quality music of all kinds in a cool, intimate atmosphere: from large youth orchestras to ensembles mixing African rhythms, cumbia, and funk, to jazz-crossover trios and the DJ sets that close the evenings. The experience is designed to be participatory, with opportunities to attend rehearsals and meet the musicians.

The festival venues

The festival uses the most beautiful spots in Antrodoco as natural stages: the Cloister of Santa Chiara, Piazza del Popolo, the Sant'Agostino Theatre, and the Cloister Woods. Walking between one event and another means crossing the historic centre of the village, among Romanesque churches, springs, and mountain vistas, in a constant dialogue between heritage and contemporary creation.

A project supported by the PNRR

Aria - an acronym for Antrodoco International Residency for Artists - was born from a PNRR grant obtained by the Municipality through the Ministry of Culture's call for villages, with the support of the European Union and the NextGenerationEU programme. The goal is ambitious: to transform a small Apennine village into a multidisciplinary residency centre for theatre, dance, music, contemporary circus, and visual arts, capable of attracting international artists and restoring new vitality to the territory.