Festival delle Storie – San Donato Val di Comino Stop

The festival that tells the story of the Valle di Comino

Founded in 2009, the Festival delle Storie is a traveling literary and cultural festival that brings the village squares of the Valle di Comino, in the province of Frosinone (southern Lazio), to life every year during the last week of August. Writers, journalists, magistrates, scientists, and musicians take turns on stages set up in historic centers: a different town each evening, and every meeting a story to be heard under the stars on the Lazio side of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park. The artistic direction is led by journalist Vittorio Macioce, who has made storytelling the common thread of the event: here, "storytelling is resistance," not mere escapism.

The San Donato Val di Comino stop

The Municipality of San Donato Val di Comino is one of the festival's historic stops. Meetings take place in Piazza della Libertà, the village's living room, where book presentations, author dialogues, and musical moments follow one another from late afternoon until night. In 2025, the San Donato day, scheduled for Saturday, August 30th, featured seven consecutive appointments from 5 PM to 10 PM, with guests such as Antonio Moresco, Francesco Bozzi, Valeria Tron, and the musical storyteller Edoardo Inglese. In 2026, the village will have the honor of opening the event: the inaugural day of the 17th edition is scheduled in San Donato on Sunday, August 23rd.

The 2026 edition: The Canticle of the Creatures

The 17th edition, scheduled from August 23rd to 29th, 2026, is dedicated to the Canticle of the Creatures by Saint Francis of Assisi, marking the eighth centenary of the saint's death (1226). After the opening in San Donato Val di Comino, the festival caravan moves to Gallinaro (August 24th), Settefrati (25th), Casalvieri (26th), Picinisco (27th), Alvito (28th), and concludes in Atina (29th). The summer program is preceded by the "Storie al Castello" preview on July 4th and 5th in Belmonte Castello, featuring free meetings on artificial intelligence, space geopolitics, communication, and typography.

Guests and atmosphere

Over the years, the festival has brought prominent names of Italian culture and journalism to the valley: magistrate Nicola Gratteri, writer Maurizio De Giovanni, microbiologist Andrea Crisanti, journalist Agnese Pini, Vatican expert Andrea Tornielli, TG2 director Antonio Preziosi, and many others. The atmosphere is that of a cultured and convivial village feast: chairs in the square, mostly free meetings, and the public strolling between one appointment and another in the alleys of the historic center, while philosophers converse with astrophysicists and cartoonists mingle with storytellers.

A territory to discover

Participating in the San Donato stop is also an opportunity to discover the Valle di Comino, an authentic corner of the Lazio Region between Sora and Cassino. San Donato Val di Comino is a medieval-style village nestled on the slopes of the mountains of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, with stone alleys, panoramic viewpoints, and a solid gastronomic tradition made of typical valley products. Late August, with cool mountain evenings and squares enlivened by the festival, is one of the best times of the year to visit.