MIC Fest – Music in the Castle (Fontevivo Edition)

A Travelling Festival Arrives in Fontevivo

MIC Fest – Music in the Castle is one of the most established summer festivals in Emilia-Romagna: founded in 2003, over twenty years it has transformed into a major travelling festival that blends music, jazz, civic theatre, storytelling, and cultural dissemination. In 2026, for its 23rd edition, the festival will reach 38 municipalities across 8 provinces (Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Cremona, Mantua, Massa Carrara, and La Spezia) with 48 events and 68 artists, all with free admission and starting at 9:30 PM. Among the participating municipalities is Fontevivo (Province of Parma).

Fontevivo and its Musical Venues

In Fontevivo, a small municipality in the Bassa Parmense region known for its Cistercian abbey, the festival chooses settings of great historical and landscape value. The evenings are usually held at the former Capuchin Convent Park and in the intimate Cloister of the Noble College, spaces that have hosted major names in international jazz and singer-songwriters over the years. It is precisely this ability to bring high-level music to unexpected places that defines the identity of MIC Fest.

Among the Languages: The 2026 Theme

The common thread of the 2026 edition, titled "Encounter Among Languages", is cross-pollination: jazz, theatre, music, narrative, dance, and dissemination alternate within the same weeks. The general programme features artists such as Stefano Bollani with Valentina Cenni, Alan Clark of Dire Straits, Fabrizio Bosso with the Toscanini Academy Big Band, the Vandoliers, Giuliano Palma, the Shai Maestro Quartet, and Immanuel Wilkins. The festival is conceived and directed by Enrico Grignaffini and organised by the Associazione Piccola Orchestra Italiana APS.

Why It's Worth It

• High-quality concerts, free and outdoors, in historic locations in Fontevivo.
• A programme ranging from auteur jazz to international rock, from theatre to song.
• The intimate atmosphere of the Cloister of the Noble College and the former Capuchin Convent Park.
• Starting at 9:30 PM, free admission, on summer evenings in Emilia-Romagna.

A festival that has managed to grow without losing its roots: in Fontevivo too, culture returns to inhabit the town's spaces, under the Bassa Parmense sky.