Love Letter Festival

A festival that gives voice to emotions

The Love Letter Festival is one of the most original cultural events in Abruzzo. Every year, in the heart of summer, the small village of Torrevecchia Teatina, in the province of Chieti, becomes the stage for a celebration of love in all its forms: romantic love, but also love for culture, solidarity, and beauty. The festival, reaching its 26th edition in 2026, revolves around the Love Letter Prize, an international epistolary writing competition founded in 2000 and dedicated to the memory of Professor Vito Moretti.

The Love Letter Prize

The core of the event is the competition that invites people from every country to put their feelings into writing in the form of a letter. Over the years, tens of thousands of letters have arrived in Torrevecchia, now preserved in the Love Letter Museum, housed in the 17th-century Palazzo del Marchese Valignani. The awards ceremony, the highlight of the festival, is traditionally held at the beginning of August and brings together authors, jurors, and guests of honor from the world of culture.

Five days of events

The festival is more than just a literary prize: over several evenings, the Parco della Gioventù San Karol, adjacent to the palace, hosts a rich and varied program that weaves together multiple artistic languages:

• classical and pop music concerts, often performed by young local orchestras;
• contemporary art exhibitions set up in the museum and park spaces;
• literary meetings and book presentations with writers and scholars;
• collateral awards dedicated to kindness, solidarity, science, and enterprise, such as the Federico Valignani Prize and the Kindness Prize.

A village that becomes a capital of love

With this event, Torrevecchia Teatina—a town of just over four thousand inhabitants a few kilometers from Chieti and Pescara—has carved out a unique place in the Abruzzo and national cultural landscape. The festival combines its literary vocation with a popular and convivial dimension, typical of Abruzzo's summer festivals, while enhancing the historical heritage of the village and its noble palace.

Practical information

The competition is open to prose texts in any language; the call for entries is presented every winter, and letters must be submitted by spring. The festival's evening events are free to attend. Torrevecchia Teatina is easily accessible from Chieti, Pescara, and Francavilla al Mare.