Bandalarga Puglia Festival

Bandalarga Puglia Festival: Great wind band music in Conversano

In the heart of the Province of Bari, the town of Conversano has hosted one of the most important events dedicated to wind band music in all of Southern Italy for over three decades. The Bandalarga Puglia Festival, organized by the «G. Ligonzo» Musical Cultural Association, is much more than a concert series: it is a journey that weaves together wind bands, symphony orchestras, opera, choirs, and jazz evenings within the evocative setting of Conversano's historic center.

A musical heritage to preserve

The festival was founded with the goal of rediscovering, promoting, and protecting the immense musical, cultural, and social heritage of the wind band tradition, allowing the public to experience and reclaim it. In Puglia, the band is not just music: it is popular identity, collective memory, and the soundtrack of patronal feasts and community life. Every summer, Bandalarga brings this language back to the center stage, pairing it with symphonic, operatic, and contemporary repertoires.

The festival venues

Events take place in the iconic locations of Conversano: the Cathedral square, Largo Cattedrale, Piazza della Conciliazione, and above all the evocative Belvedere Amphitheatre, which hosts the grand closing opera performance every year. The evenings, almost always held outdoors, combine high-quality listening with the beauty of the old town.

Bands, orchestras, and opera

Throughout its editions, the festival has hosted prestigious ensembles such as the Carabinieri Band, orchestras from major Italian theaters, and nationally acclaimed choirs and soloists. The artistic direction, led by maestro Angelo Schirinzi, crafts a program each year that ranges from the great classical repertoire to soundtracks, from jazz to sacred music, and even the staging of famous operas like Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The 2026 edition

For the summer of 2026, the Ligonzo Association has announced the 31st edition of the Bandalarga Puglia Festival in Conversano. Official dates and the detailed program have not yet been released; they will be communicated by the organizers through the association's official channels. As per tradition, the festival is expected to span numerous evenings between late June and mid-August, confirming Conversano as a benchmark for Puglian wind band culture.