MicroCosmi Festival
The widespread festival of music, arts, and thought across San Giovanni a Piro, Bosco, and Scario
About MicroCosmi
A widespread festival in the heart of Cilento
MicroCosmi is a multidisciplinary, participatory festival held in the municipality of San Giovanni a Piro, in the province of Salerno, in the heart of Campania and within the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park. For one week, the town's historic center, the hillside hamlet of Bosco, and the seaside village of Scario, overlooking the Gulf of Policastro, become one large, widespread stage: not just a single venue, but a network of squares, beaches, gardens, churches, bookstores, and panoramic terraces hosting concerts, meetings, workshops, exhibitions, and screenings.
The underlying idea is as simple as it is ambitious: to connect «microcosms» — small communities, minor histories, local knowledge — with contemporary thought and the arts, without imposing events from above, but by building the program together with those who live in the area.
Who created it
MicroCosmi was born from the intuition of musician, composer, and producer Vittorio Cosma, who serves as its artistic director. The curation is entrusted to Annarita Masullo, cultural designer and co-founder of The Goodness Factory. The festival's journey developed over several editions in Comerio, in the province of Varese, before arriving in Cilento: the edition hosted in San Giovanni a Piro is the eighth in the festival's history. The program is built through discussion between a scientific committee and a local committee, with the direct involvement of associations from the Gulf of Policastro.
Music: from the Capital Jam to the Piazza Ortega concerts
Music remains the beating heart of MicroCosmi, but it never occupies just one stage. The most anticipated moment is the Capital Jam, a format that combines a concert, jam session, and talk show, hosted on the panoramic plateau of Ciolandrea, overlooking the sea. The evenings in Bosco, in Piazza Ortega, alternate between musical readings, audiovisual works, and intimate showcases, while a traveling stage-bus brings live music to the streets of the three villages, stopping wherever it happens to be and turning every stop into a small concert.
Words, science, and political thought
Alongside the concerts, MicroCosmi dedicates ample space to meetings with writers, journalists, scientists, and economists. Topics include inequality, the right to dissent, depopulation, and the future of the South's inland areas, as well as the Constitution, memory, and international conflicts. There is no shortage of nocturnal astronomical observations guided by an astrophysicist, the morning press review in the bars along the Scario waterfront, and narrated walks along the trails of Mount Bulgheria.
Contemporary art and the Museo Ortega
Bosco preserves a unique artistic memory: the Spanish painter José Ortega, an anti-Franco dissident who chose Cilento as his refuge, lived and worked here. During the festival, the Museo Ortega and Casa Ortega become spaces for workshops, guided tours, and storytelling. These are joined by contemporary installations, video art works, and collective performances that redesign urban spaces, as well as exhibitions set up in the Cappella del Carmine and along the Scario waterfront.
Workshops, children, and community
MicroCosmi is also designed for families: the La Bella Estate bookstore in Scario hosts readings, meetings with illustrators, and workshops reserved for children aged 6 to 12, while in San Giovanni a Piro, creative writing, painting, and music therapy workshops open to everyone take place, often with limited capacity and by reservation. The participatory dimension is central: many activities ask the public to contribute, write, play, or walk together.
The flavors of Cilento
The festival does not overlook the table. Food and wine itineraries through the alleys of the historic center and the festival organized by the women of Bosco bring traditional Cilento dishes to the streets — cavatielli, eggplant, homemade desserts — completing an experience that combines culture, landscape, and conviviality.
Why it's worth the trip
- A festival with free admission for almost all events.
- A program that mixes national names with local voices.
- Extraordinary locations: the Ciolandrea plateau, the beaches of Scario, the alleys of Bosco.
- An idea of culture as a communal practice, not as consumption.
MicroCosmi — edition 2026
A turning point edition
With the 2026 edition, MicroCosmi made its arrival in Cilento: after the path built in previous editions in Comerio, in the province of Varese, the festival conceived by Vittorio Cosma and curated by Annarita Masullo chose the municipality of San Giovanni a Piro, with the hamlets of Bosco and Scario, for its eighth edition.
From July 6 to 12, 2026, seven days intertwined music, contemporary art, theater, literature, journalism, science, and political thought. The program was distributed between the Cenobio Basiliano of San Giovanni a Piro, Piazza Ortega and the Museo Ortega in Bosco, the La Bella Estate bookstore, and the Scario waterfront, up to the panoramic plateau of Ciolandrea.
The names of the edition
Among the protagonists: Emma Nolde and Roberto Mercadini, Margherita Vicario, Eugenio Finardi and Malik Djoudi for the Capital Jam in support of Emergency, Andrea Laszlo De Simone, Giorgio Gherarducci of Gialappa's Band, the philosopher of science Telmo Pievani, the economist Fabrizio Barca, journalists Annalisa Camilli and Gea Scancarello, director Susy Laude, artist Max Magaldi, and writer Gianni Biondillo.
Admission
All events were free to enter, with the sole exception of the Capital Jam concert on July 9, the proceeds of which were entirely donated to Emergency.
Programme MicroCosmi 2026
Monday, July 6
- 17:00 — Bosco, Museo Ortega: On the Traces of Ortega, painting workshop with Cesare Siboni (free, limited capacity).
- 18:30 — Bosco, Museo Ortega: Creativity Exercises for Being, Staying, and Transforming, writing workshop with Federica «Federippi» Fabrizio.
- 19:30 — Scario, La Bella Estate Bookstore: Traces of Heart and Glances, poetry reading with Rosalia Colicigno.
Tuesday, July 7
- 18:00 — Scario, La Bella Estate Bookstore: Hooray, magazines for kids are back!, meeting for children aged 6 to 12 by Grazia Gotti.
Wednesday, July 8
- 10:30 — Scario, La Bella Estate Bookstore: Looking for eyes that read images, silent book readings (6-12 years).
- 16:00 — San Giovanni a Piro, Cenobio Basiliano: Starting from me, intergenerational workshop with Fabrizio Barca and Giulia Cutello (Inequality Diversity Forum).
- 18:00 — Cenobio Basiliano: Being, Staying, and Transforming, talk with Federica Fabrizio, Simona Ridolfi, and Maria De Biase.
- 20:00 — Scario, La Bella Estate Bookstore: What does a Children's Laureate do?, with Grazia Gotti and Giovanni Colaneri.
- 21:00 (until the 11th) — Scario, waterfront: Blob Sentimentale installations by Susy Laude and Microcosmi Pubblicitari curated by Emmanuel Grossi.
- 22:00 — Bosco: Machina Sacra, performance by Max Magaldi and Matteo Mandelli; the exhibition continues in the Cappella del Carmine until the end of the festival.
Thursday, July 9
- 10:00 (also on the 10th) — Scario: Playing with shapes and colors, children's workshop with illustrator Giovanni Colaneri.
- 12:00 — Bosco, Piè d'Ulivo: Attention to the Symposium! curated by Emanuele Bevilacqua.
- 18:00 — Cenobio Basiliano: inauguration of the Constituent Mothers exhibition with the provincial ANPI of Salerno.
- 19:00 — Ciolandrea Plateau: Capital Jam — MicroCosmi x Emergency with Margherita Vicario, Eugenio Finardi, and Malik Djoudi, hosted by Luca De Gennaro and Vittorio Cosma (only ticketed event).
- from 20:00 — San Giovanni a Piro: Flavors in the Alleys, food and wine tour by the Ad Arte association.
- 21:00 — San Giovanni a Piro: Mai Dire Open Mic, stand-up comedy by Giorgio Gherarducci.
- 23:00 — Ciolandrea: Astronomical observations with astrophysicist Fabio Peri and music by BAM! Bottega Artistico Musicale.
- from 9th to 12th — TAO Love Bus, traveling trio between San Giovanni a Piro, Scario, and Bosco.
Friday, July 10
- 09:00 (until the 12th) — Scario: Press review at the bar with Claudio Jampaglia.
- 11:30 — Scario, port: Cilento, women and weaving: do you know the story of the libbane?, boat excursion with storytelling by Maria De Biase and live music.
- 18:30 — Scario, La Bella Estate Bookstore: Protest prohibited, book presentation by Annalisa Camilli.
- 19:00 — Bosco, Casa Ortega: Festival Meeting, discussion on cultural policies with regional Councilor for Culture Onofrio Cutaia.
- 21:00 — Bosco, Piazza Ortega: You who feel the hurricane at your sides, dialogue between words and music with Roberto Mercadini and Emma Nolde.
- 23:00 — Piazza Ortega: A very long shadow, audiovisual work by Andrea Laszlo De Simone.
- 20:00 (also on the 11th) — Bosco: The Bosco Festival, traditional Cilento dishes prepared by the local women.
Saturday, July 11
- 10:00 — Cenobio Basiliano: Culture in Cilento, meeting with regional Councilor Onofrio Cutaia.
- 18:00 — Cenobio Basiliano: We are here! Power and freedom for new generations with Gea Scancarello.
- 18:30 — Scario: My Little House, exhibition curated by Fulvio Ravagnini with artist Giovanni Morisi.
- 18:30 — Scario, La Bella Estate Bookstore: I am microcosms, participatory choral reading curated by Valentina Farinaccio.
- 19:00 — Bosco, Piazza Ortega: Microcosms R1PUD1A war, interview by Claudio Jampaglia with Shervin Haravi.
- 21:00 — Piazza Ortega: Reading Lolita in Tehran, concert reading with Cinzia Spanò and Roberta Di Mario, curated by Umberto Angelini.
- 23:00 — Piazza Ortega: Malik Djoudi in acoustic version.
Sunday, July 12
- 16:00 — Cenobio Basiliano: Playing silence, music therapy workshop with Davide Woods.
- 18:00 — Cenobio Basiliano: Of sound and robust Constitution curated by Gea Scancarello with ANPI.
- 18:30 — from Ciolandrea to San Giovanni a Piro: I listen to your heart, Cilento, narrated walk with Gianni Biondillo, accompanied by the San Giovanni band.
- from 20:00 — San Giovanni a Piro: The taste of farewells, closing food and wine tour.
Throughout the week
- Bosco: visits to the Museo Ortega (Tuesday to Sunday, 16:00-20:00) and guided tours on the traces of José Ortega.
- Constituent Mothers and Machina Sacra exhibitions visitable until the end of the festival.
Highlights MicroCosmi 2026
- Capital Jam on the Ciolandrea plateau with Margherita Vicario, Eugenio Finardi, and Malik Djoudi, in support of Emergency.
- Emma Nolde and Roberto Mercadini in Piazza Ortega in Bosco with «You who feel the hurricane at your sides».
- Andrea Laszlo De Simone with the audiovisual work «A very long shadow».
- Reading Lolita in Tehran, concert reading with Cinzia Spanò and Roberta Di Mario.
- Nocturnal astronomical observations at Ciolandrea with astrophysicist Fabio Peri.
- The narrated walk by Gianni Biondillo that closed the festival.
- Local flavors with Flavors in the Alleys and The Bosco Festival.
Prices MicroCosmi 2026
Practical information — MicroCosmi
How to get there
San Giovanni a Piro is located in southern Cilento, on the Gulf of Policastro. By car: A2 del Mediterraneo, exit Padula-Buonabitacolo, then SS517 and SS18 towards Policastro Bussentino and Scario. By train: Sapri station (about 15 km), served by long-distance trains on the Tyrrhenian line, then bus or taxi. Nearest airport: Salerno Costa d'Amalfi; alternatively, Naples Capodichino, about three hours away by road.
Getting around during the festival
Events are distributed between the municipal capital, the hamlet of Bosco (hillside), and that of Scario (seaside): a car is recommended, with limited parking on peak evenings. The Ciolandrea plateau is reached via a panoramic road; it is best to arrive early.
Tickets
All events are free to enter, with the sole exception of the Capital Jam concert, which is ticketed with proceeds donated to charity. Workshops, boat excursions, and guided tours are free but have limited capacity: reservations can be made by writing to [email protected].
Where to stay
Scario offers hotels, bed and breakfasts, and vacation homes along the waterfront; agritourism facilities can be found in Bosco and the surrounding countryside. In high season, it is advisable to book well in advance. Sapri, Policastro Bussentino, and Marina di Camerota are valid alternatives just a few kilometers away.
Tips
- Bring comfortable shoes: many events involve walking between alleys and trails.
- Evenings by the sea can be windy: a light sweatshirt is useful.
- Check the updated program on the official website and social channels before leaving.
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Where does it take place — MicroCosmi
Sedi diffuse: Cenobio Basiliano, pianoro di Ciolandrea, Piazza Ortega e Museo Ortega a Bosco, lungomare di Scario