Latina Stori@Fest
The cultural festival of the Municipality of Latina, bridging Pontine memory, youth, and community
About Stori@Fest
A festival that tells the story of Latina to itself
Founded in 2024 by the Municipality of Latina and its Cultural Department, Latina Stori@Fest has quickly become the most recognizable civic and cultural event in the Pontine capital. The core idea is both simple and ambitious: to use history—that of the city founded in the 1930s and that of the entire reclaimed plain—as a key to interpreting the present and speaking to the future. The '@' symbol in the name is not just a graphic flourish: it represents the link between memory and digital language, between archives and the web, and between generations sharing a story.
Where it takes place
The heart of the event is the Gabriele D'Annunzio Municipal Theatre, located in Piazza del Popolo, in the center of Latina's rationalist district. Surrounding the main hall are the Foyer, which hosts exhibitions and presentations, the Sala De Pasquale, and the Palazzo della Cultura. Some events take place outdoors, featuring guided tours of the city's iconic landmarks and the Pontine territory, from the original foundation districts to rural villages.
How the program is structured
Each edition revolves around a central theme, broken down into thematic days. The format includes three daily segments: mornings are reserved for high school students, featuring educational paths, workshops, and direct dialogue with speakers; afternoons host book presentations, screenings, and round tables; evenings are dedicated to concerts, theatrical performances, and meetings with nationally renowned guests.
- Words — editorial presentations, readings, and historical conferences
- Music — concerts and meetings with local musicians
- Images — film festivals and photography exhibitions
- Stones — architecture, urban planning, and guided tours of the foundation city
- Taste — tastings and stories of products from the Agro Pontino
The territory as a protagonist
Stori@Fest is designed as a community project rather than a showcase: dozens of local associations, schools, libraries, and volunteer groups participate alongside university professors, journalists, writers, and researchers. The result is a dense calendar—the largest edition featured over forty events—that balances serious academic outreach with accessibility.
Latina and the Pontine province
As the capital of the province of Latina in southern Lazio, the city is one of the rare Italian examples of an urban center designed from scratch in the 20th century: its geometric squares, rationalist buildings, and regular street grid tell a recent but dense story of land reclamation, internal migration, and the construction of a new identity. This is exactly the material the festival puts at the center, returning it to residents and visitors alike. Surrounding the capital, the territory offers the Circeo National Park, coastal lakes, the Pontine Islands, and the hilltop villages of the Lepini Mountains: a trip to Stori@Fest is easily combined with a few days of exploring the coast and the hinterland.
Why it's worth visiting
Those looking for a mass-market tourist event won't find confetti or street stalls here. Latina Stori@Fest is a content-driven festival: people come to listen, discuss, watch a restored film or an exhibition, and follow debates on legality and citizenship. Participation is free for almost all events, making it one of the most democratic cultural occasions in the Pontine calendar.
Stori@Fest — edition 2026
An edition dedicated to the youth
With the 2026 edition, Latina Stori@Fest changed its focus compared to the first two years: shifting from the history of the territory to the present of the new generation. The title chosen by the Municipality of Latina, «I deserve to feel good», is both an affirmation and an educational goal: to talk about youth distress, respect, relationships, and responsibility without moralizing, placing students at the center of the debate rather than just in the audience.
Three days, three perspectives
The program was structured over three thematic days, hosted at the Gabriele D'Annunzio Municipal Theatre and in the spaces of the Foyer and Palazzo della Cultura, with the direct involvement of high schools from the province of Latina through meetings, workshops, and a youth hackathon.
- Monday, April 13 — Legality, prevention, and listening: opening day with the participation of the Latina Police Commissioner Fausto Vinci, representatives of the State Police, and the Guarantor for Children, focusing on prevention and dialogue between institutions and young people.
- Tuesday, April 14 — Legality and responsibility: the central moment of the festival, featuring a meeting between students and Senator Pietro Grasso, former National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor, in a dialogue on legality and individual choices.
- Wednesday, April 15 — Communication and the new generation: closing day on how to communicate with young people today, featuring professors, experts, media professionals, and publishing entrepreneurs.
Schools on the front line
The distinctive feature of this edition was student protagonism: they were not mere listeners, but active participants in workshops, working groups, and the hackathon, tasked with developing concrete proposals on well-being, respect, and community. This approach is consistent with the festival's civic vocation, which the Municipality of Latina presented as an investment in youth as the protagonists of the city's future.
Programme Stori@Fest 2026
Monday, April 13, 2026 — Legality, prevention, and listening
Gabriele D'Annunzio Municipal Theatre. Festival opening and day dedicated to prevention and listening, with Latina Police Commissioner Fausto Vinci, representatives of the State Police, and the Guarantor for Children and Adolescents, in dialogue with students.
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 — Legality and responsibility
Central meeting of the event with Senator Pietro Grasso, who discussed legality and individual choices with students. Throughout the day, workshops and the youth hackathon continued in the Foyer and Palazzo della Cultura.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 — Communication and the new generation
Closing day on languages and tools for communicating with young people, featuring professors, media experts, and publishing entrepreneurs; presentation of the results from the workshops and the hackathon.
The detailed hourly program was released by the Municipality of Latina on its institutional channels and social media, along with those of the D'Annunzio Theatre.
Highlights Stori@Fest 2026
- Meeting with Senator Pietro Grasso, former National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor, with students (April 14)
- Edition theme «I deserve to feel good — Youth, respect, community»
- Youth hackathon with high schools from the province of Latina
- Inaugural day with Latina Police Commissioner Fausto Vinci and the Guarantor for Children
- Venues in the heart of the city: D'Annunzio Theatre, Foyer, and Palazzo della Cultura
Prices Stori@Fest 2026
Practical information — Stori@Fest
How to get there
By train: Latina Scalo station on the Rome-Naples line via Formia, connected to the city center by local buses (about 15 minutes). By car: take the Latina exit from the SS148 Pontina, then follow signs for the center; parking is available in Piazza del Popolo and surrounding streets. By plane: Rome Fiumicino Airport is about 80 km away.
Venue
Gabriele D'Annunzio Municipal Theatre, Piazza del Popolo 1, 04100 Latina; Theatre Foyer, Sala De Pasquale, and Palazzo della Cultura.
Admission
Free entry to almost all events, subject to availability. Some morning meetings are reserved for pre-booked school groups.
Information
Municipality of Latina, phone +39 0773 6521, [email protected]. The full program is published on the Municipality's website and on the social media channels of the Municipality of Latina and the D'Annunzio Theatre.
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Where does it take place — Stori@Fest
Teatro Comunale Gabriele D'Annunzio
Piazza del Popolo 1, 04100 Latina