Health Festival

A festival dedicated to global health in Salento

The Health Festival is an event held in Tricase, a town in Lower Salento in the province of Lecce, Puglia. Conceived and promoted by the Marina Serra ETS Association, the festival was born with the goal of making health a community issue, addressed in a multidisciplinary and accessible way. The common thread is encapsulated in the motto "strategies and policies for global health and the 'restanza' in healthy territories": the idea that living well is possible without being forced to abandon one's land.

Three days, three themes

The program is spread over three days, each dedicated to a fundamental aspect of well-being. The first day focuses on nutrition, biodiversity, and the Salento cereal tradition, with workshops for primary schools on ancient grains and cultural meetings in the historic halls of Palazzo Gallone. The second day centers on the relationship between environment and health, with in-depth sessions at the auditorium of the "G. Comi" Institute on topics such as dementia prevention, circular economy, pollution, and cardiovascular risks.

The third day is dedicated to practical prevention: at the premises of the Sant'Antonio Parish, free medical screenings are offered—including breast, cardiovascular, metabolic, nutritional, general medicine, and pediatric postural assessments—alongside a blood donation day with a mobile unit, in collaboration with local health facilities and associations.

A community project

More than just a series of conferences, the Health Festival is an open meeting point for the entire citizenry, capable of combining scientific rigor with public outreach. The event is sponsored by the City of Tricase, the Province of Lecce, the Otranto-Leuca Park, and the Pia Fondazione di Culto e Religione Cardinale G. Panico, a key regional hospital institution.

With its focus on healthy eating, environmental protection, and prevention, the Health Festival is part of a movement that tells the story of a conscious Salento attentive to the quality of life, where caring for the individual also means caring for the place where one lives.