Ci Vuole Orecchio - Listening Festival

A festival to listen to, in the heart of Pigneto

Ci Vuole Orecchio - Listening Festival is a Roman event entirely dedicated to podcasts, audiobooks, and audio storytelling. Promoted by Fandango Libri and Fandango Podcast, it takes place at the Goffredo Mameli Library at Via del Pigneto 22, in the V Municipality of Rome, in the Lazio region. The Pigneto neighborhood, with its pedestrian zone, lively bars, and cultural spirit, provides the natural setting for a festival that focuses not on visual spectacle, but on voice, sound, and the slow pace of listening.

From the first edition to today

The first edition was held in December 2023, followed by a second from November 28 to December 1, 2024, and a third edition moved to early autumn, from September 11 to 14, 2025. In just a few years, the festival has become a key appointment for the Italian podcasting community: a place where authors, producers, journalists, and listeners meet without filters. The project has been supported by Roma Capitale - Department of Culture, won the public call « Culture in Movimento 2023-2024 », and was included in the Estate Romana program.

What to expect at the festival

The program alternates between different formats over four days, from afternoon until evening:

• Talks and round tables on the craft of podcasting: production, writing, sound design, and economic sustainability of the sector.
• Collective listening sessions of audio documentaries and podcast series, followed by discussions with their creators.
• Live podcasts recorded in front of an audience, covering topics ranging from politics to human rights, ecology to science, and feminism to civil memory.
• Story Slams and Open Mics, where anyone can take the stage and share their story.
• Contests and awards dedicated to emerging audio projects, judged by a panel of professionals.
• Workshops and training sessions for those who want to learn how to build an audio narrative.

Voices and partners

Throughout its editions, the festival has hosted over forty protagonists, including podcasters, writers, journalists, artists, and activists—such as prominent figures in the Italian radio and literary scene like Marino Sinibaldi, Igiaba Scego, and Luigi Manconi. The network of partners is equally significant and reflects the civil identity of the event: Audible, Emons, RaiPlay Sound, Linkiesta, CNR-IRPPS, A Sud, Story Slam Roma, Associazione Vanvera, Assipod, Save the Children, the Italian Buddhist Union, CESVI, and the Roman editorial team Sveja.

Why it's worth visiting

In a city saturated with visual stimuli, Ci Vuole Orecchio proposes an almost counter-current exercise: stopping to listen. The format is that of a neighborhood festival—familiar and accessible—but with the content quality of a national event. The library, outdoor spaces, and streets of Pigneto host a diverse audience of residents, university students, and industry professionals. Admission is free for all events, making the festival one of the most democratic cultural occasions in Rome's September calendar.

The festival in the Lazio calendar

Alongside the major literary and film festivals of the capital, Ci Vuole Orecchio contributes to a widespread cultural ecosystem that, in Lazio, is not concentrated solely in the historic center but also animates semi-central neighborhoods. It is a festival that pairs perfectly with a stroll through Pigneto, among murals, historic shops, and the locations that served as sets for neorealist cinema.