Festival dell'Appennino – tappa di Venarotta

A widespread festival along the trails of the Central Apennines

The Festival dell'Appennino is a travelling event that has been enlivening the villages and mountains of the Central Apennines for over fifteen years, combining guided excursions and live performances in a single day. The formula is simple and now recognizable: in the morning, we walk together along a trail, immersed in the landscapes of the inland areas; in the afternoon or evening, upon reaching the destination, an open-air concert or performance takes place. This embodies the spirit of the event's historic subtitle, "Inclusivo di Natura" (Nature Inclusive): culture and environment meeting far from the big stages, in places often off the traditional tourist routes.

The Venarotta stop

In 2026, the festival stops in Venarotta, a small hilltop village in the province of Ascoli Piceno, a few kilometers from the provincial capital and overlooking the hills rising towards the Monti della Laga. The appointment is set for Sunday, July 12, 2026: closing the day of walking will be a concert by Bandabardò, one of the most beloved and long-standing bands on the Italian folk-rock scene, capable of transforming every evening into a collective celebration. As with all stops of the festival, the day combines a nature excursion with a live performance, in a context of landscapes and communities within the earthquake-affected area.

The 2026 edition: the tenth anniversary of the earthquake

The 17th edition of the Festival dell'Appennino runs from May 3 to October 31, 2026, with 31 events spread across 29 municipalities in four regions – Marche, Abruzzo, Lazio, and Umbria. The common theme this year is the motto "A due passi da te" (Just a stone's throw away from you), a manifesto of proximity linked to an important anniversary: the tenth anniversary of the 2016 earthquake that profoundly marked the Central Apennines. The festival is promoted by the BIM Tronto and the Extraordinary Commissioner for Reconstruction, along with the BIMs and municipalities of the involved territories.

Why it's worth it

The Venarotta stop is not just a concert: it's an invitation to slow, sustainable, and participatory tourism, capable of bringing audiences and attention to a village in the Piceno area that preserves authentic traditions, flavors, and landscapes. For those visiting the Marche region, a day like this is the perfect opportunity to combine nature, live music, and the discovery of a community that continues to tell its story of rebirth, just a stone's throw from Ascoli Piceno.