Letture d'Agosto Festival

A literary festival in the heart of the Monti Dauni

The Letture d'Agosto Festival is the premier literary event in Bovino, a town in the Province of Foggia nestled among the woods of the Monti Dauni, in the heart of inland Puglia. Promoted by the Presidio del Libro di Bovino, the festival turns the village's historic center into a vast open-air cultural salon every year, where books, authors, and readers meet amidst stone alleys, churches, and squares overlooking the Tavoliere plain.

History: from 2016 to today

Founded in 2016, the event has quickly established itself as one of the most followed literary gatherings in the Daunian hinterland. Each edition revolves around a theme that sets the tone for the meetings: in 2023, the seventh edition featured The Long Journey of the South, in 2024 the eighth edition chose the title Humanimals, while the ninth edition in 2025 was developed around the guiding thread Existing to Resist. Over the years, the festival has hosted nationally renowned writers, historians, and intellectuals, confirming culture as a challenge to be won for the inland areas of the South.

Festival venues

The festival is itinerant throughout the village and utilizes Bovino's most evocative spaces: the historic Piazza Marino Boffa, the Chiesa del Carmine, Piazza Duomo in front of the cathedral, and green spaces like Parco Liliana Rossi and the Villa Comunale. The Palazzo Ducale serves as a backdrop, with its famous, recently restored Hanging Gardens, which return a historical and landscape heritage of great value to the public.

A program of books, theater, and civil engagement

The lineup weaves together book presentations, readings, dialogues with authors, theatrical performances, and convivial moments like "aperilibri" (book aperitifs) and "book speed dating." Alongside fiction and poetry, the festival makes space for current civil issues, from the Southern Question to the great questions of the present, in a continuous dialogue between literature and society. The artistic direction has benefited over the years from the work of curators such as Oscar Buonamano and Lea Durante.

Bovino, one of Italy's most beautiful villages

Recognized as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy, Bovino is an ideal stop for combining culture and slow tourism. The festival is the perfect opportunity to discover the medieval historic center, the cathedral, the ducal castle, and the views over the Monti Dauni, during one of the most vibrant seasons in the summer calendar of the Municipality of Bovino and the entire Puglia region.