Festival dei Sensi

A festival that invites you to listen to the landscape

The Festival dei Sensi is one of the most original cultural experiences in Apulia: a nomadic, travelling festival that transforms the Valle d'Itria into a vast, widespread stage for knowledge every late August. With its headquarters in Cisternino, in the province of Brindisi, the festival brings high-quality lectures, exhibitions, and conversations to the open spaces of masserie, trulli, gardens, and historic estates, often in places not normally accessible to the public.

History and Vision

Born in 2009 from an idea by Milly Semeraro and organized by the Associazione Iter Itria, the Festival dei Sensi has grown edition after edition to become a benchmark for cultural outreach in Italy, also supported by the Symbola Foundation. Its philosophy is clear: to counter mass tourism with slow, conscious tourism capable of rediscovering the deep identity of the territory through knowledge. Each year, a different theme serves as a common thread, explored outside academic frameworks by intertwining humanities and scientific disciplines.

The 2026 Edition: 'Play'

The 2026 edition takes place from Wednesday, August 26th to Sunday, August 30th, and is dedicated to the theme of play, understood as a foundation of culture, strategy, risk, and discovery of the world. As per tradition, the program will alternate between travelling conferences, exhibitions, and events designed for families and children, featuring Italian and international speakers and scholars. The detailed program with the list of guests is released by the organizers in the weeks leading up to the event.

The Locations of the Valle d'Itria

The nomadic formula is the heart of the festival: events are not concentrated in a single place but move between the towns of the Valle d'Itria, involving Cisternino, Martina Franca, Locorotondo, Ostuni, and Fasano over the years. The public is invited to travel from one venue to another, discovering masserie, churches, palaces, and rural landscapes dotted with centuries-old olive trees and trulli.

A Cultural Experience in the Heart of Apulia

Participating in the Festival dei Sensi means experiencing the Valle d'Itria in a new light: not just as a seaside or gastronomic destination, but as an open-air laboratory of ideas. The lectures, held outdoors during the cooler hours of the day, combine scientific rigor with the pleasure of discovery, in an atmosphere that favors slowness and the quality of listening. It is an unmissable event for those looking for something more than a traditional holiday in Apulia.