Astronomy and Cinema under the Stars - Parco Salvador Allende

A neighborhood park that becomes an observatory

Parco Salvador Allende, in the Tor Vergata neighborhood of Rome, is not a place you would expect to find in the capital's tourist guides. It is a local green space, frequented by residents, at the southeastern edge of the city, in the territory of the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in Lazio. For two Saturdays in July, however, this ordinary space is transformed: telescopes pointed at the Sun, tables with experiments, and a screen that lights up when evening falls. This is the idea behind Astronomy and Cinema under the Stars, a free scientific outreach program designed for the whole family.

Who is behind it

The initiative was born from the researchers of Jam of Science, a group dedicated to bringing research out of academic settings, in collaboration with the Orizzonte Nuova Tor Vergata association, the Alphio association, and INAF – National Institute for Astrophysics. The presence of INAF is no coincidence: the Tor Vergata quadrant has hosted a major scientific and university hub for decades, and the festival also serves to build a bridge between that world and the surrounding neighborhood.

How a day works

The rhythm is always the same and begins early, while there is still light. From 6:30 PM, the park fills with activities: the Sun is observed with telescopes equipped with special filters, instruments that allow you to see details of our star's surface normally invisible to the naked eye — spots, prominences, and photospheric granulation. Alongside the telescopes, there are thematic games for children, interactive workshops, and, on one of the two evenings, a real mini science fair with stands and exhibits distributed among the park's trees.

At 9:00 PM, the lights go down and the screening begins. The films chosen are never random: they are space-themed movies that offer a pretext to talk about science, and in some cases, the viewing is preceded or accompanied by an in-depth discussion where researchers comment on what is real and what is narrative license in what is seen on screen.

Cinema that becomes a lesson

This formula — entertainment plus scientific commentary — is the hallmark of the event. An animated film can open a discussion on waste and planetary sustainability; a science fiction film set on Mars becomes an opportunity to explain how space exploration really works, what missions are underway, and what we know today about the Red Planet. The audience is not expected to listen passively: questions are welcome, and researchers remain available before and after the screening.

An event for families

The festival is explicitly designed for families with children. The afternoon activities have a playful and participatory tone, while the evening time of the screening allows even the little ones to stay until the end. The screenings are in Italian with English subtitles, a choice that makes the events accessible even to the foreign residents of the quadrant, who are numerous in a university area like this.

Free and local

All activities are completely free. For some specific initiatives, particularly games dedicated to children, prior registration via an online form may be required, given the limited number of spots. There are no tickets, there is no box office: you arrive, find a spot on the lawn, and participate. It is a zero-cost outreach model for the public that has a long tradition in Rome, linked to the 'Estate Romana' season and the numerous open-air arenas that animate the city's parks and squares from June to September.

Why it's worth going

Those looking for a big, spectacular event will find flashier options elsewhere in the capital. Here, the value lies in something else: the concrete possibility of looking at the Sun through a professional telescope, asking an astrophysicist a question and getting an answer, and seeing a child get curious in front of an experiment. All this in a neighborhood park, in the evening, without paying anything. It is science communication done well, in a simple format that works.