Canta Forte - Choral Festival

A night of choral singing at the foot of the Fortress

Canta Forte is the choral festival that brings summer to life in Fenestrelle, a small town in the Chisone Valley in the province of Turin, in the heart of the Alpine Piedmont. The event takes place at the Porta Reale, the monumental entrance to the famous Fenestrelle Fortress, and offers an evening entirely dedicated to mountain choral music and the traditions of the Alpini.

Who organizes the festival

The event is promoted by the Coro Bric Boucie of the Pinerolo ANA Section, a group that has been preserving and spreading the heritage of Alpine songs for years. The festival hosts guest choirs from various Italian regions, creating a dialogue that brings together different repertoires, voices, and stories beneath the fortress walls. Past editions have featured, alongside the host choir, groups such as the Coro A.N.A. Monte Sella and the Coro Brianza, who were welcomed guests for a highly attended evening.

The setting: the Fenestrelle Fortress

The festival owes much of its charm to its venue. The Fenestrelle Fortress is the largest Alpine fortress in Europe and one of the most impressive examples of military architecture in the world: built starting in 1728, the complex stretches for over three kilometers along the mountainside, with an elevation gain of about 635 meters and a famous covered staircase of nearly 4,000 steps. Listening to the choirs at the Porta Reale, the gateway to this extraordinary system of forts and redoubts, offers an experience that blends music, history, and landscape.

A tradition that unites music and memory

Canta Forte is often part of the local Alpini calendar and the summer program of Fenestrelle, the "City of Forts". More than just a concert, the evening is a community moment: choral singing, with its a cappella harmonies and its repertoire linked to the mountains, war, and emigration, becomes a vehicle for collective memory and shared values. It is a precious opportunity to discover an authentic corner of the Alpine Piedmont and to experience the fortress in an unusual and evocative way, with voices resonating among its stones.