Muntagninjazz
The widespread jazz festival of the Peligna Valley stops in Bugnara
About Muntagninjazz
Muntagninjazz in Bugnara
Muntagninjazz is one of the most original jazz festivals in Abruzzo: a widespread and itinerant event that every summer brings great live music to the villages, forests, and mountain refuges of the Peligna Valley, in the province of L'Aquila. Founded in 2007 and organized by the Muntagninjazz APS association, the festival involves about ten municipalities and dozens of different locations, transforming squares, natural theaters, springs, and mountain trails into open-air stages.
The Municipality of Bugnara, a small village of just over a thousand inhabitants nestled at an altitude of 580 meters along the Peligna Valley, is one of the most fascinating stops on the program. Here, the festival employs the formula that has become its hallmark: the concert-hike, a journey through nature that culminates in live music.
The concert-hike to the Acqua degli Uccelli Refuge
The Bugnara stage is dedicated to those who love experiencing jazz immersed in a mountain environment. It is an evening hike that starts from the village and climbs through pine forests to the Acqua degli Uccelli Refuge, located above Bugnara. The audience walks the trail at sunset, shares dinner at the refuge, and then attends the concert at altitude, returning to the valley on foot at the end of the evening. It is an experience that combines light trekking, conviviality, and musical listening in a unique natural setting.
A festival between music and territory
Muntagninjazz is not just a series of concerts: it is a cultural project that enhances the territory of the Peligna Valley and the Abruzzo mountains. Alongside evenings in village squares and major concerts in Sulmona, the festival offers concert-hikes that guide the audience through the most beautiful places in the area, between the Majella National Park and the surrounding nature reserves. This formula has made Muntagninjazz a recognized model of a widespread festival, capable of weaving together music, art, environment, and sustainable tourism throughout the province of L'Aquila.
Bugnara, a village in the Peligna Valley
Hosting a stage of Muntagninjazz also means discovering Bugnara, a village in inland Abruzzo dominated by the remains of a medieval castle and surrounded by woods and mountains. The combination of the small historic center, the Acqua degli Uccelli Refuge, and high-quality jazz makes the Bugnara evening one of the most beloved experiences of the entire festival, in the heart of the Abruzzo Region.
Muntagninjazz — edition 2026
Muntagninjazz 2026 in Bugnara
For its twentieth anniversary, Muntagninjazz returns from July 23 to August 22, 2026, with a program that weaves together jazz, singer-songwriter music, hiking, theater, and original productions. The twentieth-anniversary edition features over 100 events across 32 days, distributed among ten municipalities of the Peligna Valley and 23 locations: Sulmona, Introdacqua, Capestrano, Pratola Peligna, Raiano, Pacentro, Anversa degli Abruzzi, Prezza, Campo di Giove, and Bugnara.
In 2026, Bugnara is once again among the stops of the widespread festival, with the concert-hike formula that has brought audiences to the Acqua degli Uccelli Refuge above the village over the years. At the moment, the specific date for the Bugnara stage has not yet been published: the detailed program is released in stages on the festival's official channels in the weeks leading up to the events.
Programme Muntagninjazz 2026
Muntagninjazz 2026 — 20th Anniversary Edition, July 23 – August 22, 2026. Over 100 events, 32 days, 10 municipalities, 23 locations.
The date and program for the Bugnara stage have not yet been announced. In previous years, the Bugnara stage hosted an evening concert-hike to the Acqua degli Uccelli Refuge. The full program is published progressively on the official website muntagninjazz.it.
Some already announced stops of the 2026 widespread festival
- July 23-24 — Capestrano, Tirino Valley Natural Theater: Joy Garrison and Carlo Morena (tribute to Stevie Wonder); Mimmo Locasciulli
- July 30 — Introdacqua, Bosco Plaja: Oversoul Street Band (opening concert)
- July 31 — Pratola Peligna, Madonna della Libera Square: Natalio Mangalavite Quinteto Imperial
- August 1-2 — Raiano, Umberto Postiglione Square: RBSN; Café de Paris (concert-hike)
- August 3 — Introdacqua, Attilio Susi Square: Enrica Panza & L'Appuntamento
- August 4 — Pacentro, Fonte Romana: Grupo Samba Rio (concert-hike)
- August 6 — Introdacqua: Billy Bros. Swing Orchestra and Introdacqua City Band
- August 8 — Anversa degli Abruzzi, Cavuto Springs: Manoantica (concert-hike)
- August 11-20 — Sulmona, courtyards of Palazzo San Francesco and Ss. Annunziata: Banda Osiris, Carolina Bubbico, Francesca Tandoi Trio, Fabrizio Bosso Quartet, Gegè Telesforo, Bassolino, and others
- August 21-22 — Sulmona, "Piano Piano per Sulmona" (tenth edition): Daniele Sepe; Dirotta su Cuba
Highlights Muntagninjazz 2026
- Festival's 20th anniversary edition, July 23 – August 22, 2026
- Over 100 events across 32 days, 10 municipalities, and 23 locations
- Bugnara among the stops of the widespread festival, featuring the traditional mountain concert-hike
- Big jazz names in Sulmona: Fabrizio Bosso, Gegè Telesforo, Daniele Sepe, Dirotta su Cuba
Prices Muntagninjazz 2026
Practical information — Muntagninjazz
How to get there
Bugnara can be reached by car from the A25 motorway (Sulmona-Pratola Peligna exit), along the Peligna Valley towards Scanno. The nearest train station is in Sulmona, a hub for lines to Rome, Pescara, and L'Aquila, just a few kilometers from the village.
Useful tips
The Bugnara stage is a concert-hike: it is necessary to wear trekking shoes and bring water, a flashlight, and clothing suitable for a mountain evening. Participation generally requires booking. For schedules, meeting points, refuge dinners, and costs, it is recommended to check the official website muntagninjazz.it and the festival's social media channels, or to contact the organizers directly.
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Where does it take place — Muntagninjazz
Rifugio Acqua degli Uccelli