Locus Festival – Grotte di Castellana Stage

Locus Festival descends into the Grotte di Castellana

Locus Festival is the most important itinerant music festival in Puglia: founded in 2005 in Locorotondo and organized by the Bass Culture association, every summer it brings major Italian and international artists to squares, masserie (fortified farmhouses), and extraordinary locations throughout the region. For its 22nd edition, scheduled from June 18 to September 2, 2026, the festival adds a completely new and spectacular venue to its lineup: the Grotte di Castellana, in the municipality of Castellana Grotte, in the province of Bari.

A unique concert: Alberto Ferrari in solo

On August 6, 2026, the famous karst caves host an intimate and unrepeatable event: Alberto Ferrari, singer, guitarist, and composer for Verdena and I Hate My Village, performs solo, accompanied only by his guitar. In the suspended acoustics and magical atmosphere of the underground, the concert alternates tracks from the Verdena repertoire with reinterpretations of songs that have shaped his artistic vision, in an essential and direct experience, far from the large stages.

The 2026 theme: «Play What's Not There»

The 2026 edition is inspired by Miles Davis, in the centenary of his birth: the claim «Play What's Not There» summarizes the Locus vocation to give space to innovative languages, artists outside the mainstream, and less-traveled places in Puglia. The choice to bring music inside the Grotte di Castellana, one of the most famous natural sites in Southern Italy, perfectly embodies this spirit of research and territory enhancement.

A festival spread throughout Puglia

The evening in Castellana Grotte is one of many stops on a schedule that in 2026 crosses numerous Apulian locations: from Bari to the Masseria Ferragnano in Locorotondo, from the trulli of Alberobello to the Arena Bianca in Ostuni, from Andria to Minervino Murge, from Molfetta to the Egnazia Excavations in Fasano. Over twenty appointments with international guests such as David Byrne, John Legend, Johnny Marr, Marcus Miller, Skunk Anansie, Thundercat, and Ezra Collective, alongside Italian names like C.S.I., Vinicio Capossela, Subsonica, and Daniele Silvestri, supported by the Puglia Region.

Why choose it

Experiencing a concert inside the Grotte di Castellana means combining great live music with one of the most fascinating hypogean landscapes in Italy. Alberto Ferrari's solo performance, in the gathered silence of the caves, is a rare opportunity to listen to one of the protagonists of Italian rock in an unprecedented and up-close setting, just a few steps from the center of Castellana Grotte and the Valle d'Itria.