Carnival is Poetry – Gala Evening and Awards Ceremony

A literary competition in the spirit of Carnival

Carnival is Poetry is a national poetry and narrative competition that has established itself in recent years as one of the most heartfelt cultural events in Romagna. Born as a literary offshoot of the famous Romagna Carnival of Gambettola, the award is organized by the associations Gambettola Eventi and E'culturamente APS and culminates in a gala evening hosted in the historic Petrella Theatre in Longiano, an 18th-century gem in the heart of the Province of Forlì-Cesena, in Emilia-Romagna.

Competition Sections

The competition announcement is open to authors from all over Italy and is divided into several sections that award both established poets and young talents from local schools. The categories include:

• Poetry Section — unpublished works in Italian;
• Short Story Section — short fiction;
• Youth Section — reserved for students and school classes, often with works dedicated to the great Romagna authors.

The winning texts are collected in an award anthology and read to the public during the gala evening. The jury presidency is entrusted to journalist and poet Giorgio Magnani.

Gala Evening at the Petrella Theatre

The highlight of the event is the award ceremony at the Petrella Theatre in Longiano, hosted by actress Beatrice Balzani and journalist-poet Giorgio Magnani. The evening alternates readings of the winning texts with musical performances, dance moments, and interviews with surprise guests, in an atmosphere that combines the solemnity of the literary award with the festivity of the Carnival from which the award takes its name.

A Link to the Great Poetic Tradition

Each edition is dedicated to a figure from local or national culture: the 2026 edition paid homage to Giovanni Pascoli, on the 120th anniversary of his taking the chair of literature at the University of Bologna, while the previous edition was dedicated to the teacher-writer Maria Pascucci. This rooting in Romagna's literary memory makes the competition much more than a simple contest: it is an opportunity to celebrate poetry as a living heritage of the community of Longiano and the entire Romagna region.