In the Arena of Straw Bales

A Straw Theatre in the Middle of the Countryside

There are festivals held in the stone theatres of big cities, and others that, every year, must first be literally built. In the Arena of Straw Bales belongs to the second category: the amphitheatre that hosts the shows is erected by hand, with hundreds of straw bales collected from the fields after harvest, in the open countryside along Via Cenacchio, in Cotignola, in the heart of Bassa Romagna in the province of Ravenna. It is a Greek-inspired arena, made only of natural materials, destined to live for the duration of a summer and then dissolve: for this reason, it is called ephemeral theatre.

Where the Canal Meets the Senio

The location is not chosen by chance. The arena stands at the point where the Canale Emiliano Romagnolo crosses the Senio river, in an agricultural landscape that becomes an integral part of the show. Here, for a week in July, concerts, theatre, dance, contemporary circus, storytelling, land art works, and poetry encounters take place. The programme is deliberately multidisciplinary and welcomes both big names on the Italian scene and more experimental research.

A Long History and a Community That Builds It

The festival was born in 2008 from the Associazione Primola Cotignola - Cultural Promotion and Research Centre, and over its editions, it has hosted over four hundred artists, including prominent names such as Marco Paolini, Vinicio Capossela, Moni Ovadia, and Elena Bucci. But what makes it unique is the way it comes to life: the arena is built thanks to the work of dozens of volunteers, in a collective ritual that precedes the shows and which in itself tells the spirit of the event.

The 2026 Theme: "Esperanza"

The eighteenth edition, scheduled from July 8 to 14, 2026, is dedicated to the theme "Esperanza, may straw save us". At its centre is "Esperanza", a twenty-meter-long bamboo raft, built and placed in the square of Cotignola starting from Christmas 2025: on its metaphorical journey, it sets sail with a crew of Romagna dreamers, to bring to safety the expectations and hopes of the communities crossed by the river. The Cotignola edition is preceded by "Granarolo Effimero", a preview of a few days hosted in Granarolo (a hamlet of Faenza).

An Event to Experience

More than a programme of events, the Arena of Straw Bales is an experience: you arrive at sunset, cross the countryside on foot or by bicycle, and sit on straw bales to listen to music and words under the Romagna sky. An event that for almost twenty years has made Cotignola a small, surprising reference point for experimental theatre and live culture in Emilia-Romagna.