Eboli Cult
Literature, theatre, cinema, history, and music under the stars at the Arena Cult
About Eboli Cult
A city that becomes a cultural square
Eboli Cult is the festival that, every summer, restores to the city of Eboli — in the Province of Salerno, in Campania — a sense of community in the most ancient and beautiful meaning of the term: a place where people sit together, listen, and discuss. Promoted by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Eboli, the event has grown rapidly to become one of the most recognizable civic appointments in the Piana del Sele, capable of bringing together both local audiences and nationally renowned guests.
A festival divided into sections
The Eboli Cult formula is not that of a festival concentrated in a single weekend, but rather a cultural season spread from June to August, organized into thematic sections that follow one another without overlapping:
- Literature — the original and most defining core: writers, journalists, poets, and intellectuals take the stage to present their books and engage with the public.
- Theatre — a short festival of live performances created with the Compagnia di Teatro del Bianconiglio and local companies.
- Cinema — the Eboli stop of the MedFilm Festival, with feature films and short films that tell the stories of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
- History — meetings and re-enactments linked to the Swabian and medieval past of the city.
- Music — the concert section, hosted in the setting of the Cloister of San Francesco.
The Arena Cult, the open-air living room
The symbolic venue of the event is the Arena Cult, set up in Piazza della Repubblica: an open-air auditorium with over two hundred seats, accompanied by social spaces and refreshment points that transform the evening into a shared experience rather than just an event to listen to. Some appointments move to the Cloister of San Francesco and the historic center, where medieval architecture provides a natural backdrop for the performances.
Literature as a Southern question
It is no coincidence that books are discussed with particular intensity in Eboli. The city's name is forever linked to Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi, and the festival has chosen not to suffer that citation but to overturn it: here, culture does not stop; it arrives and stays. The literary section of Eboli Cult was selected by the Turin International Book Fair as part of the Luci sui Festival project, a recognition that has projected the event into a national network of literary festivals.
The MedFilm Festival in Eboli
The collaboration with the MedFilm Festival, a historic event dedicated to cinema from the Mediterranean basin, brings to Eboli a selection of films and shorts often unseen by the Southern public: works that traverse the shores of the Mediterranean, from the Maghreb to Turkey, from Palestine to Sicily, with a gaze that favors civic documentary and the narrative of migrations and conflicts.
A local literary prize
The festival is linked to the Matteo Ripa Literary Prize, named after the Ebolitan missionary and sinologist who founded the College of the Chinese in Naples, whose awards ceremony is now one of the concluding moments of the literary section.
Free entry
One of the distinctive features of Eboli Cult is the choice of free entry to all events, subject to availability. A decision consistent with the public vocation of the festival, designed as a cultural service for the community and not as a tourist product. Those arriving from outside will find Eboli a convenient base to visit the Piana del Sele, the temples of Paestum, and the Cilento coast.
Eboli Cult — edition 2026
Eboli Cult 2026, the year of maturity
The third edition of Eboli Cult confirms its section-based structure and expands the calendar: from June 16 to August 30, 2026, the city of Eboli hosts literature, theatre, cinema, history, and music, almost always outdoors and always with free entry. The literary section arrives at this edition strengthened by its selection in the Luci sui Festival project of the Turin International Book Fair, which has placed the Ebolitan festival in a national circuit.
The main stage remains the Arena Cult in Piazza della Repubblica, with over two hundred seats, a bar, and social spaces; the musical section moves instead to the Cloister of San Francesco. All literary meetings and theatrical performances start at 8:00 PM, concerts at 8:30 PM.
Programme Eboli Cult 2026
Literature - June 2026 (Arena Cult, 8:00 PM)
- June 16 — Nicola Lagioia, on Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi and the Southern question
- June 17 — Serena Bortone, Le dirimpettaie: women and emancipation
- June 18 — Gio Evan, La gioia è un duro lavoro
- June 19 — Serena Mazzini, La tua solitudine è il nostro business: digital platforms and artificial intelligence
- June 22 — Carmen Pellegrino, Le verità provvisorie: memory and identity
- June 23 — Antonio Moresco, Il finimondo
- June 28 — Massimo Giannini, on global power balances and relations between Europe and the United States
Theatre - July 2026 (Arena Cult, 8:00 PM)
- July 4 — O l'unu o l'atru, Krimisa Theatre Company
- July 5 — Tammurriata nera, I Pappici Theatre Company
- July 11 — The Trojan Women, Arte Povera Theatre Company
- July 12 — Il grande salto, Gli Avanzati Theatre Company
Cinema - MedFilm Festival, July 26 / August 2, 2026
- July 26, 8:00 PM — Giulio Regeni - Tutto il male del mondo by Simone Manetti
- July 30, 8:00 PM — Gioia mia by Margherita Spampinato
- July 30, 10:00 PM — Everyday in Gaza by Omar Rammal
- July 31, 8:00 PM — Tutto quello che resta di te by Cherien Dabis
- July 31, 10:00 PM — Hi Mom, It's Me, Lou Lou by Atakan Yilmaz
- August 1, 10:00 PM — Tienimi presente by Alberto Palmiero and Case cadute by Gianluca Abbate
- August 2, 8:00 PM — A Sad and Beautiful World by Cyril Aris
- August 2, 10:00 PM — What If They Bomb Here Tonight? by Samir Syriani
History - August 22 and 23, 2026
Two days dedicated to the memory of the city and its Swabian and medieval past, in the old center of Eboli.
Music - Palco d'autore, Cloister of San Francesco (8:30 PM)
- August 25 — First instrumental music concert
- August 28 — Second concert
- August 30 — Closing concert
The musical section is curated in collaboration with the Nova - Musica d'insieme association.
Highlights Eboli Cult 2026
- Nicola Lagioia opens the festival on June 16, starting from Carlo Levi and Christ Stopped at Eboli, the book that gave the city its most famous name in the world.
- Massimo Giannini, Serena Bortone, Antonio Moresco, Carmen Pellegrino, and Gio Evan are among the guests of the literary section, selected for the Luci sui Festival project of the Turin Book Fair.
- The MedFilm Festival stop brings Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cinema to Eboli, with civic titles and documentaries rarely seen in local cinemas.
- Four evenings of theatre with companies from Campania and the South, from Tammurriata nera to The Trojan Women.
- The musical finale in the Cloister of San Francesco, with three concerts under the moon at the end of August.
Prices Eboli Cult 2026
Practical information — Eboli Cult
How to get there
Eboli is located on the A2 del Mediterraneo motorway (Eboli exit), approximately 30 km from Salerno and 90 km from Naples. The Eboli train station is served by regional trains on the Salerno-Battipaglia-Potenza line; from the station, the center and Piazza della Repubblica can be reached in a few minutes on foot or by city bus. Reference airport: Salerno-Costa d'Amalfi.
Hours and entry
Literary meetings and theatrical performances usually start at 8:00 PM, concerts at 8:30 PM. Free entry until all available seats are taken: it is recommended to arrive early on evenings with popular guests.
Information
Department of Culture of the Municipality of Eboli, Via Matteo Ripa 49 - 84025 Eboli (SA). Phone 0828 328329 (Culture) or 0828 328312 (Municipal Library), e-mail [email protected]. Updated program on ebolicult.it and on the Eboli Cult social channels.
Tips
The Arena Cult is an open-air space: on late summer evenings, a light sweater may be useful. Parking is available in the areas adjacent to the center; on busier evenings, it is advisable to leave the car just outside the historic center and continue on foot.
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Where does it take place — Eboli Cult
Arena Cult - Piazza della Repubblica
Piazza della Repubblica, 84025 Eboli