MAST Festival — Music and Visual Arts

A festival born from the land

MAST Festival was founded in 2019 in Scicli, in the heart of the Val di Noto in the province of Ragusa, with the aim of sparking a cultural and artistic movement deeply rooted in the baroque landscape of southeastern Sicily. The acronym M.A.S.T. encapsulates the four pillars of the event—Music, Art, Sustainability, and Territory—and defines its identity: an independent, self-funded initiative that places sound and visual research at the service of an authentic dialogue with the places and communities of the Scicli municipality.

Electronic music and visual arts

The festival's beating heart is visionary electronica: live sets, DJ sets, sound rituals, and experimentation, alternating with photography exhibitions, installations, video art, podcasts, and artist residencies. Each edition is built around a theme that serves as a lens through which to interpret the territory, ranging from the exploration of contemporary desertification to reflections on the vortex as a movement of crisis and rebirth.

Venues between baroque and marginal spaces

One of the most recognizable features of MAST is its choice of locations: the festival unfolds between the baroque historic center of Scicli and a network of often overlooked or forgotten spaces, returned to the community for the duration of the event. Venues that have hosted recent editions include:

• Centrale MAST, on Via F.M. Penna, the festival's headquarters
• Villa Penna and Spazio Fosso
• the Via Badiula parking lot and the Church of Santa Teresa
• various churches, courtyards, and hidden corners of the UNESCO-listed baroque center

Independence and sustainability

MAST proudly asserts its independent and self-funded nature, supported over time by collaborations with the Municipality of Scicli, the Sicilian Region, and the recognition linked to the UNESCO heritage of the Val di Noto. Sustainability is not just an artistic theme but a methodology: reclaiming spaces, enhancing the territory, and building community around culture are the goals that drive every edition of this Sicilian festival.

An immersive experience in the Val di Noto

Those who attend MAST do not just watch a series of concerts; they live an immersive experience that traverses the city, blends audience and artists, and turns Scicli into an open-air laboratory. Set against one of Sicily's most evocative landscapes, between the golden stone of the baroque and the proximity of the sea, the festival has become a benchmark for the independent electronic and visual scene in Southern Italy.