Diorama Festival

A traveling festival across the landscapes of Abruzzo

Diorama Festival is an event dedicated to sophisticated music, visual arts, and contemporary culture, conceived and directed by Paolo Cicalini. Designed as a traveling project, the festival crosses the four Abruzzo provinces every year, hosting events in natural settings, historic villages, town squares, beaches, and unconventional spaces, creating a constant dialogue between sound, image, and landscape. In 2026, the festival marked its sixth edition, choosing Lettomanoppello, a town in the province of Pescara, for its inaugural stage.

The Anfiteatro dei Tholos, in the heart of the Maiella

The setting is one of the most evocative of the entire festival: the Anfiteatro dei Tholos, located in the Piano delle Cappelle area within the Maiella National Park. This natural amphitheater offers views stretching from the peaks of the Maiella to the Adriatic coast—an open-air stage that engages with the famous tholos, the ancient dry-stone huts that symbolize the pastoral and rural traditions of this region. Lettomanoppello, a village renowned for its stone extraction and craftsmanship, also houses the Museo Urbano dei Pietrales and Palazzo De Sanctis, which were opened to the public during the festival.

Music, DJ sets, and sunset live acts

The musical program unfolded from the afternoon into the evening. The festivities opened with DJ sets by Mat Chiavaroli, an Abruzzo-based producer with an international reach, and ZenSu, featuring selections that blend jazz, electronica, and soul sounds. The most anticipated moment arrived at sunset with a live performance by Metonimia, a duo whose concert is in constant transformation, perfectly in tune with the fading light behind the mountains.

Visual arts and collaboration with ABAQ

One of the distinctive features of Diorama Festival is its ongoing collaboration with ABAQ - Academy of Fine Arts of L'Aquila, which contributes performance art and site-specific projects. In Lettomanoppello, the project «Cugine delle lucertole, parenti dell'argilla» (Cousins of the lizards, relatives of the clay) was presented by artists Patrizia Cianforlini, Francesca Perniola, and Alice Tonelli, curated by Maurizio Coccia: a live performance that weaves together body, matter, and landscape, transforming the natural amphitheater into a space for visual experimentation.

An experience blending culture, nature, and territory

The day offered more than just music and art: in the morning, the public could participate in free guided tours of the Museo Urbano dei Pietrales and Palazzo De Sanctis, or choose an e-bike tour along the trails of the Maiella. A free shuttle connected the historic center to Piano delle Cappelle. The event was held under the High Patronage of the Abruzzo Region and received recognition from the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Culture. Admission was free: a way to experience the most authentic side of Abruzzo by combining sophisticated music, contemporary art, and the wild beauty of the Maiella National Park.