Giallo al Castello

Crime fiction takes center stage in Montale

Giallo al Castello is a literary festival dedicated to noir, thrillers, and mysteries that brings summer to life in Montale, in the Province of Pistoia, in the heart of Tuscany. Established in 2024, the event is organized by the Giallo Pistoia Association in partnership with the Montale Municipal Department of Culture and with the collaboration of Auser Montale, under the coordination of Maurizio Gori and Giuseppe Previti.

The common thread is clear: to bring great Italian crime literature into an intimate and evocative setting, the Courtyard of Castello della Smilea (Villa della Smilea), a historic building in the center of Montale. Here, on Thursday evenings, fans meet authors, listen to readings, and enjoy evenings where genre literature becomes an opportunity for dialogue and conviviality.

Evenings of meetings, readings, and music

The heart of the festival lies in the meetings with authors: writers from the Italian crime scene present their novels and share their stories with the public. Alongside the presentations, there are more original formats, such as musical readings that often open the festival, with narrating voices accompanied by live instruments to bring the noir atmosphere to life.

• Book presentations on crime themes with the authors in attendance
• Musical readings in the castle courtyard
• Themed exhibitions related to comics and noir illustration
• Moments of solidarity and community engagement linked to the local area

Themed exhibitions

Each edition is enriched by an exhibition that engages with the world of crime fiction and comics. In previous seasons, the halls have hosted displays dedicated to the works of important Italian artists and illustrators on the theme of noir and crime, confirming the link between genre literature and the art of comics.

A local landmark

While remaining a town-scale event, Giallo al Castello has become a reference point for crime fiction fans throughout the Pistoia area. The free admission and the long duration of the festival, spread between June and September, make it an ideal opportunity to discover Montale and its castle, in a corner of Tuscany often far from the main tourist circuits but rich in history and cultural initiatives.