Centocelle Buskers Festival

A street festival in the heart of Centocelle

The Centocelle Buskers Festival is a celebration of street arts and contemporary circus that enlivens the Centocelle district every autumn, located in Municipio V of Rome, the capital of the Lazio Region. Established in 2018, the festival has built a recognizable formula over the years: no theaters or conventional stages, but squares, sidewalks, and urban spaces reclaimed by the residents through live performance.

The hallmark of the event is intimacy. Artists do not perform from a distance but meet the audience just a few steps away, in the direct spirit of traditional buskers. Passersby become spectators, and often, active participants.

The squares in the spotlight

The festival is spread across three main hubs, all within walking distance of each other:

• Piazzale delle Gardenie — the heart of the festival, hosting large-scale circus acts and evening concerts;
• Piazza dei Gerani — the space for parades, roving performances, and more intimate formats;
• Piazza dei Mirti — a historic square in the neighborhood, dedicated to acrobatic shows and grand finales.

In addition, the La Resede Cultural Center serves as the venue for workshops and training sessions aimed at emerging artists and local youth.

Contemporary circus, music, and workshops

The program is multidisciplinary and explores various languages: aerial acrobatics (silks, hoop, Chinese pole), juggling, Cyr wheel, hand-to-hand, clowning, dance, fire performance, and live concerts, ranging from street bands to alternative rock and one-man bands. Alongside the shows, the festival offers circus workshops for children and free professional workshops dedicated to artistic promotion and cultural well-being.

A project rooted in the neighborhood

The festival is organized by the Stanza 101 Project Cultural Association under the artistic direction of Giuseppe Casa, in collaboration with Scuderie MArteLive and the local neighborhood association CentRocelle, and is part of the national Buskers in Town circuit. The event is promoted as part of Rome Capital's cultural programs: the 2025 edition was part of the Estate Romana, while the project was also selected for the Roma Tutto l'Anno program for 2026.

The value of the Centocelle Buskers lies not only in the quality of the programming but in the choice of location: bringing contemporary circus to a working-class neighborhood in Rome's eastern suburbs is a form of cultural politics in the most concrete sense, returning public spaces to social life.

Why visit

All events are free and held outdoors, making them suitable for families and children. Those visiting Rome outside the classic tourist circuits will find an authentic portrait of the contemporary city here: Centocelle is currently one of the most vital neighborhoods in the capital, filled with pubs, craft breweries, independent cultural spaces, and a prominent music scene. The festival is its most successful synthesis.