Lucca in Mente

A festival about the brain and emotions in the heart of Lucca

Lucca in Mente is a festival dedicated to the world of the brain, primary emotions, and neuroscience, conceived and promoted by the BRF Onlus Foundation, an institute for scientific research in psychiatry and neuroscience. The event takes place in the municipality of Lucca, in Tuscany, and is primarily hosted at the evocative Villa Bottini, a Renaissance residence surrounded by greenery just a short walk from the city's historic center.

Created to bring the general public closer to themes of the mind, science, and contemporary culture, the festival offers a week of meetings, dialogues, and discussions with writers, neuroscientists, journalists, psychologists, and intellectuals. Each edition revolves around a central theme that serves as a lens through which to interpret our times.

The 2026 edition: "Exceptions. Learning from mistakes"

The sixth edition, scheduled from May 18 to 24, 2026, featured the theme "Exceptions. Learning from mistakes". The intellectual challenge of this edition was to celebrate imperfection, embrace exceptions, and view mistakes, failures, and the unexpected not as flaws or weaknesses to be hidden, but as tools to observe, understand, and improve reality.

The artistic direction is entrusted to Flavia Piccinni and Carmine Gazzanni. Guests of the 2026 edition included prominent names in Italian culture, journalism, and literature: writer Carlo Lucarelli, Walter Veltroni, magistrate Antonio Ingroia, linguist Andrea Moro, journalist and war correspondent Andrea Sceresini, writer Giampaolo Simi, and numerous other speakers.

Program and format of the meetings

• Seven days of free meetings, dialogues, and conversations open to everyone.
• Opening entrusted to journalist and war correspondent Andrea Sceresini.
• Discussions on neuroscience, psychology, literature, current affairs, language, and society.
• A competition aimed at local schools, one of the most cherished moments of the event.
• Meetings are also broadcast on a delayed basis on the local station NoiTV.

Villa Bottini and the local connection

The choice of Villa Bottini as a venue is no coincidence: the 16th-century villa, owned by the Municipality of Lucca, with its historic garden offers a refined and intimate setting, ideal for the festival's meetings. The event is realized with the contribution of the Municipality of Lucca, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, and the Tuscany Region.

Lucca in Mente is part of the rich cultural calendar of the Tuscan city, famous for its intact Renaissance walls and internationally renowned events, confirming itself as a high-quality scientific and cultural outreach appointment capable of combining rigor and accessibility.