Libri dal Vivo Festival

A literary lounge in the heart of Tortona

The Libri dal Vivo Festival is the premier literary event in Tortona, a city in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont. Every spring, the event brings the Tommaso de Ocheda Civic Library on Via Ammiraglio Mirabello and the adjacent square to life for four days, transforming the area into a true open-air literary lounge. Meetings take place outdoors within the library grounds, or in the internal presentation hall in case of inclement weather.

The 'viaggiAMO con i Libri' project

The festival is part of the wider cultural project 'viaggiAMO con i Libri', an initiative that brings writers and voices from the Italian publishing scene to Tortona. Following the experience of the Turin International Book Fair, the festival offers a packed calendar of presentations, dialogues, and discussions with authors, dedicated to both adult readers and younger audiences, with events also reserved for local schools.

Four days of encounters

The program spans the entire week, with events in the late afternoon and evening on weekdays and a day of widespread events on Saturday. The festival celebrates the talent of local and national authors, who are considered a precious historical and literary testament to local traditions and a starting point for young talent. Recent editions have featured prominent national names such as Andrea Vitali, alongside voices from the Tortonese cultural scene.

Promoting local publishing

The festival's stated goal is to promote and support local publishers and authors, who are recognized as a source of memory and community identity. At the end of the event, the presented volumes become part of the Civic Library's collection, where they remain available for citizens to borrow, ensuring continuity between the event and the daily cultural life of the Municipality of Tortona.

A beloved city appointment

Having grown year by year, the festival has successfully captured the hearts of the Tortonese public: recent editions have attracted approximately 600 attendees to the meetings organized in the square next to the library. Promoted by the Civic Library and the Tortonese Library System, with the support of local entities, Libri dal Vivo Festival is now a staple of the cultural spring in Tortona and the entire Tortonese district.