Greccio Green Code #Sacro

A festival in the village of the first Nativity scene

In Greccio, a small town perched on the slopes of Mount Lacerone in the province of Rieti, Franciscan memory is not just a devotional act: it is the very identity of the village. It was here, in 1223, that Francis of Assisi staged what tradition remembers as the first representation of the Nativity. From this legacy comes Greccio Green Code #Sacro, the summer festival organized by Teatro Rigodon under the artistic direction of Alessandro Cavoli, which transforms the village and its trails into an open-air stage every weekend.

The formula is simple and recognizable: no large stages, but a series of events distributed between the International Nativity Museum, the squares of the historic centre, and the natural paths that connect to the Way of St. Francis. The festival runs from July until the first week of September, with a calendar covering every summer weekend.

The green code: nature, spirituality, community

The festival's name encapsulates its cultural programme. The green code is the key to interpreting the relationship between humanity and creation—the same relationship Francis put into verse in the Canticle of the Creatures, and which the festival now reinterprets in light of the 2030 Agenda goals for sustainable development. The reference to the sacro (sacred) is not confessional but poetic: the organizers' declared intent is to build a bridge between the poetry of Francis of Assisi and the value it still holds today, even for those who arrive in Greccio without any religious motivation.

This approach makes the festival a tool for promoting religious and experiential tourism in the Rieti Holy Valley, a territory that is already a destination for walkers and pilgrims but often risks being left on the fringes of Lazio's cultural circuits during the summer.

A multidisciplinary programme

The lineup alternates between different languages without hierarchy between genres:

• Prose and visual theatre, featuring companies from Lazio, Abruzzo, Umbria, and Calabria
• Contemporary dance and site-specific performances designed for the village's spaces
• Concerts ranging from ensemble music to sounds inspired by the landscape
• Shows for children and families, featuring fairy tales and traditional European storytelling
• Interactive meetings and actions along the trails, directly involving the audience

The third edition introduced a significant novelty: every Sunday morning, the Nativity Museum hosts a show dedicated to children, making the festival fully accessible to families. All events are free of charge, a choice consistent with the festival's vocation as a cultural service.

The context: the Rieti Holy Valley

Greccio is one of the four sanctuaries of the Holy Valley, along with Fonte Colombo, La Foresta, and Poggio Bustone. The Franciscan Sanctuary, carved into the rock above the town, remains the main destination for visitors, but the festival invites you to slow down and discover the medieval village, its alleys, and the surrounding woods. Walking a trail at sunset to reach a performance is an integral part of the experience.

For the Municipality of Greccio and the Lazio Region, who support the initiative, the festival also represents an economic development lever for an inland area with low population density, where the tourist season is traditionally concentrated around the Christmas period and the living Nativity scene.

Why visit

Those looking for a summer festival away from the crowds and major events will find a different scale in Greccio: small spaces, intimate audiences, and artists working in close contact with the landscape. It is a cultural summer experienced on foot, restoring a broad, secular, and shared meaning to the term sacred.