Collateral Maris Festival

A festival where art meets landscape

The Collateral Maris Festival is a showcase of experiential, visual, and performing arts that transforms Vieste—the pearl of the Gargano promontory in the province of Foggia—into an open-air cultural laboratory every June. Conceived and organized by the Collateral Cultural Association, the festival is built on the idea that art can emerge from the landscape, be shaped by it, and return it transformed: the sea, the rocky coastline, and the light of the Gargano are not just a backdrop, but a living part of the experience.

Photography, music, theatre, literature, and environmental reflection weave together in a multidisciplinary path that invites the public to cross the boundary between land and sea, turning the threshold into an opportunity for encounter and the landscape into a place of connection, imagination, and discovery.

The 'Limen' theme for the 2026 edition

The ninth edition, scheduled for June 19 and 20, 2026, chooses the theme 'Limen', meaning threshold. An ancient and powerful word that encapsulates the idea of passage, crossing, and meeting: a spatio-temporal place where the boundary ceases to be a barrier and becomes a possibility. For two days, Punta San Francesco, one of the most evocative spots in Vieste's historic centre overlooking the sea, transforms into a space for dialogue and exchange between arts, thoughts, and the community, hosting musicians, photographers, writers, artists, and performers.

Vieste and the Gargano

Vieste, a town in the province of Foggia in Apulia, is one of the most beloved destinations on the Gargano, famous for its Swabian Castle, the lighthouse on the Isolotto di Sant'Eufemia, and the beaches dominated by the iconic Pizzomunno monolith. The Collateral Maris Festival adds a contemporary cultural dimension to this natural scenery, bringing authoritative voices in photojournalism, independent theatre and music, and literary research to this small coastal town.

A community project

The festival stands out for its participatory nature and its focus on themes of landscape, environment, and local memory. Each edition revolves around a keyword that guides its content, involving the Vieste community in exhibitions, workshops, walks, concerts, and meetings with authors. Admission is free, confirming the Collateral Maris's vocation as an open, accessible festival rooted in the Gargano territory.