Confini - Festival along the margins

A festival born in a borderland

Proceno is the last village in Lazio before reaching Tuscany: a tuff promontory overlooking the Val di Paglia, crossed by the Via Francigena and long accustomed to being a land of passage. There could be no more fitting setting for Confini - Festival along the margins, the event that since 2025 has turned this small town in the province of Viterbo into a meeting point for philosophy, literature, music, and visual arts. The festival is promoted by the Municipality of Proceno together with the Proceno Impresa Sociale Cooperative, in collaboration with the UNESCO Club Viterbo Tuscia and the Italian Philosophical Society, and was created as part of a broader village regeneration project.

Artistic and scientific direction

The project is led by Sara Del Bello, a PhD in political philosophy, and Luciano Dottarelli, a scholar and cultural promoter of the Tuscia region. Their approach gives the festival a distinct character: not a showcase for famous guests, but a genuine research journey that continues from one edition to the next. The border is explored as a geographical, political, and existential category—as a limit that protects and, at the same time, as an ethical-political threshold that makes dialogue and civic participation possible.

Palazzo Guido Ascanio Sforza, the heart of the event

All events take place at Palazzo Guido Ascanio Sforza, the Renaissance building that dominates the historic center of Proceno. Its halls host conferences, round tables, book presentations, and concerts, while the surrounding village becomes the natural backdrop for philosophical walks and photography exhibitions. The intimate scale is an integral part of the experience: the audience does not just watch, but participates, intervenes, and stops to discuss with speakers and authors.

What to expect in the program

• Philosophical dialogues with university professors and Italian and international scholars;
• Book presentations with the authors in attendance, featuring a bookstall by Annulli Editori;
• Concerts ranging from early music to classical and light repertoire;
• Photography exhibitions dedicated to border landscapes;
• Workshops on philosophical practices with local high school students;
• Walks and walking practices as a method of knowledge;
• Social gatherings featuring typical products from the Alta Tuscia region.

A 2026 edition dedicated to Don Lorenzo Milani

The event on June 27 and 28, 2026, focused on the civil and pedagogical legacy of Don Lorenzo Milani, with a reflection on critical obedience and the value of the word as a tool for emancipation. A theme that fits perfectly with the festival's research: the Barbiana school was itself a margin, a peripheral place from which one of the most incisive voices of 20th-century Italian culture emerged.

Why visit Proceno

Those who arrive for the festival also discover a village of great charm, with its fortress, stone alleys, and caves carved into the tuff. Within a few kilometers, you can find Acquapendente, Lake Bolsena, the Monster Park of Bomarzo, and the border with the Tuscan towns of Sorano and Pitigliano. Free admission to all meetings makes Confini one of the most accessible cultural offerings in Alta Tuscia, ideal for a weekend that combines thought, landscape, and good food.