Giovaninfesta

A festival that unites the youth of the diocese

For nearly forty years, Giovaninfesta has been the flagship event of the Archdiocese of Agrigento dedicated to young people. Promoted by the Youth Pastoral Office, the festival brings together thousands of youths from parishes across the entire diocese every year for a day that weaves together faith, music, testimony, and civic commitment. The most recognizable feature of the festival is its itinerant nature: the host city changes every year, ensuring that different towns across the Agrigento territory are involved in turn.

The return to Canicattì

In 2026, Giovaninfesta arrived in Canicattì, an important city in the province of Agrigento, Sicily. This was the 39th edition and marked the event's return to the city after more than twenty years of absence. The heart of the day was Piazza Dante, situated in front of the Church of San Domenico and the San Domenico Cultural Center, which was transformed for a day into a meeting point for over a thousand young people who arrived from the 194 diocesan parishes.

The theme: "The Love that moves"

Each edition is accompanied by a theme that guides its content. The 2026 theme was "The Love that moves", taken from the famous concluding line of the Paradiso in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy: an invitation to rediscover love as a dynamic force that drives personal journeys and commitment to others. The visual identity created for the occasion depicts an ideal bridge connecting the previous edition in Lampedusa to the present one in Canicattì.

Memory and testimony

The festival also held significant value in terms of civic and religious memory. The youth's journey was accompanied by the testimony of Blessed Rosario Livatino, the "kid judge" born in the Canicattì area, along with the memory of Judge Antonino Saetta and the Venerable Father Gioacchino La Lomia. During the day, significant sites linked to these figures were opened to participants, including the Church of Santa Chiara and Livatino's childhood home.

A continuing tradition

The symbol of the event is the Cross donated by Pope John Paul II to the youth of Agrigento in 1993, which is handed over at the end of the festival by the youth of the host city to those of the town that will host the following edition. This gesture encapsulates the spirit of Giovaninfesta: a collective pilgrimage of the diocesan youth that, year after year, travels through and enlivens the municipalities of the province of Agrigento.