Naples City Crime Fiction Festival
Four days of thrillers, noir, and true crime along the paths of Villa Floridiana in Vomero
About Naples Crime Fiction Festival
Naples: The capital of crime fiction for four days
The Naples City Crime Fiction Festival is the major Neapolitan event dedicated to detective literature, noir, mystery, and true crime. It takes place in early June in the Municipality of Naples, the capital of Campania, with its headquarters in the hilly Vomero district. Promoted by the Gialli.it association, the festival is directed by publisher and journalist Ciro Sabatino and presided over by Maurizio de Giovanni, the novelist who, with his Commissario Ricciardi and Bastardi di Pizzofalcone series, has made Naples one of Europe's capitals of crime fiction.
Villa Floridiana: A park turned crime scene
The heart of the event is Villa Floridiana, the monumental park on Via Domenico Cimarosa that overlooks the Gulf of Naples and houses the Duca di Martina Museum. Meetings are spread across several outdoor spaces in the shade of holm oaks: the Teatrino della Verzura, the Scalone Panoramico, and the Bar Pilade area, where the now-traditional "Breakfast with the Author" is held every morning. Some special events move outside the park to other iconic city locations: FOQUS – Fondazione Quartieri Spagnoli for the opening night, the terrace of Palazzo Petrucci in Posillipo for nighttime events by the sea, and Piazzetta Aldo Masullo, in front of the IoCiSto bookstore, for the grand finale.
A program blending novels, news, and games
The festival's formula alternates between book presentations, talks with the biggest names in Italian crime fiction, panels dedicated to true crime, and more lighthearted, participatory formats. Alongside writers sit investigative journalists, magistrates, criminologists, and forensic police officers: cases that have left a mark on the collective imagination—from Jack the Ripper to the Monster of Florence, from Simonetta Cesaroni to the Garlasco murder—are re-examined through the tools of investigation and storytelling.
- Author meetings: Presentations of new releases with national and independent Neapolitan publishers.
- True crime: Round tables on major Italian and international legal cases.
- International section: Foreign guests in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes and the Institut français of Naples.
- Comics and illustration: Crime stories told through images, with the festival poster commissioned each year to a different illustrator.
- Literary games: Mystery games, Agatha Christie-themed treasure hunts, speed dating with literary agents, and tournaments between writers.
- Exhibitions and readings: Sherlock Holmes-themed displays and evening storytelling performances with musical accompaniment.
Why Naples?
The choice of city is no coincidence. Naples has an ancient tradition of crime reporting and detective novels, from 19th-century feuilletons to the genre's rediscovery by Attilio Veraldi in the 1970s, up to the contemporary generation that has turned the gulf into a narrative setting recognized throughout Europe. The festival claims this genealogy and stages it in places that belong to the city's identity: a Bourbon park, a terrace over the sea in Posillipo, and a neighborhood square guarded by a community bookstore.
A popular and accessible festival
The event has built its success on a precise choice: free admission to all daytime events at Villa Floridiana, subject to availability, with tickets required only for select evening shows. The result is an intergenerational audience—families, students, avid readers, and casual curious onlookers—who wander through the park from one meeting to the next with the program in hand. In its first editions, the festival has attracted thousands of attendees, becoming one of the most followed literary events in Campania and a national reference point for crime fiction lovers.
Around the festival
Visitors from out of town can combine the festival with a walk through historic Vomero, the Certosa and Museum of San Martino, Castel Sant'Elmo, and the views of Capri and Mount Vesuvius that open up from the hill. The Duca di Martina National Museum of Ceramics, located inside Villa Floridiana itself, is a natural stop between meetings.
Naples Crime Fiction Festival — edition 2026
Return to Floridiana
After the 2025 edition hosted at Palazzo Belvedere, in 2026 the Naples City Crime Fiction Festival returned to the park of Villa Floridiana, with three programming areas—the Teatrino della Verzura, the Scalone Panoramico, and the Bar Pilade area—active simultaneously from morning until evening. The event opened on Thursday, June 4th, at 7:30 PM at FOQUS – Fondazione Quartieri Spagnoli with a mystery game dedicated to the festival's five-year anniversary, before officially kicking off on Friday, June 5th, at 9:45 AM.
Guests and themes
Among the protagonists of this fifth edition: Carlo Lucarelli, Maurizio de Giovanni, Bruno Morchio, Gabriella Genisi, Giovanni Taranto, Martin Rua, Luca Crovi, Franco Forte, as well as Spanish authors Dolores Redondo and Ángel de la Calle, thanks to the collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes of Naples. Significant space was given to true crime, with meetings on the Simonetta Cesaroni and Garlasco cases and the Costa Concordia shipwreck, along with a section dedicated to Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie.
A more playful edition
Alongside presentations, the 2026 program expanded the space for participatory formats: an Agatha Christie-themed treasure hunt, the first table football tournament reserved for crime writers, literary speed dating with agents and editors, and moments of silent reading in the park. The finale, on Sunday, June 7th, at 9:00 PM in Piazzetta Aldo Masullo, featured Maurizio de Giovanni in conversation with Ciro Sabatino on "One Hundred Years of Paper Crimes," with free admission.
Programme Naples Crime Fiction Festival 2026
Thursday, June 4th — FOQUS, Quartieri Spagnoli
- 7:30 PM — Opening night with the festival's five-year anniversary mystery game, created and hosted by Ciro Sabatino.
Friday, June 5th — Villa Floridiana (free admission 10 AM – 7 PM)
- 10:00 AM, Bar Pilade — "Breakfast with the Author": Luca Crovi meets Vittorio del Tufo, deputy editor of Il Mattino.
- 11:00 AM, Teatrino della Verzura — "From Jack the Ripper to the Monster of Florence, a century of true crime," with Ciro Sabatino and Raffaele Marino.
- 11:00 AM, Scalone Panoramico — Giovanni Taranto presents "La chianca," hosted by Brunella Caputo.
- 11:00 AM, Bar Pilade — Simona Teodori presents "La Marchesa dei Veleni," hosted by Serena Venditto.
- 12:00 PM, Scalone Panoramico — Alessandro Gaeta recounts the Costa Concordia shipwreck.
- 12:30 PM, Teatrino della Verzura — "The Policeman Writer," meeting with Antonio Fusco.
- 1:00 PM, Bar Pilade — Fiorella Franchini presents "Bestiario di Parthenope."
- 3:00 PM, Scalone Panoramico — "Crime in the Feminine," with Marina Tognotti and Gabriella Bianchi.
- 5:00 PM, Teatrino della Verzura — "Spaghetti all'assassina": Armando Guarino and Pino Imperatore meet Gabriella Genisi and Carlo Lucarelli.
- 9:00 PM, Palazzo Petrucci Terrace (Posillipo) — Tedeschi Prize, hosted by Franco Forte.
- 10:00 PM, Palazzo Petrucci — Carlo Lucarelli in "Favole nere" (paid event).
Saturday, June 6th — Villa Floridiana
- 10:00 AM, Bar Pilade — "Breakfast with the Author": Luca Crovi meets Jacopo De Michelis (Marsilio).
- 11:00 AM, Teatrino della Verzura — "Naples Confidential," with Denise Antonietti, Giancarlo Piacci, Luca Crovi, Marco Bernardi, and Bruno Morchio.
- 11:00 AM, Scalone Panoramico — "Black Stories: Who killed Simonetta Cesaroni?", with Ciro Sabatino and Raffaella Fanelli.
- 11:00 AM, Bar Pilade — "Sherlock Holmes and Drugs."
- 11:30 AM, Bar Pilade — Forensic Police analysis on narcotic substances.
- 12:00 PM, Scalone Panoramico — "In the Blood of Garlasco," with Ciro Sabatino and Zanella.
- 12:30 PM, Teatrino della Verzura — Giancarlo Piacci meets Bruno Morchio, winner of the Scerbanenco Prize.
- 1:30 PM, Bar Pilade — "Ten things you don't know about Sherlock Holmes."
- 4:30 PM, Teatrino della Verzura — "The Four Lives of Dame Agatha," with Aloisi, Antonietti, Perna, and Venditto.
- 5:00 PM, Scalone Panoramico — Luca Crovi recounts Andrea Camilleri.
- 9:00 PM, Teatrino della Verzura — "Dracula, an Impossible Interview," with Marco Perillo and Martin Rua, guitar by Maurizio Zammartino (paid event).
Sunday, June 7th — Villa Floridiana and Piazzetta Aldo Masullo
- 10:00 AM, Bar Pilade — "Breakfast with the Author": Luca Crovi meets Ángel de la Calle, conversation on the 'novela negra' hosted by the Instituto Cervantes.
- 10:00 AM, Scalone Panoramico — Maria Elisa Aloisi presents "L'isola degli Inganni" (Mondadori), hosted by Denise Antonietti.
- 11:00 AM, Scalone Panoramico — "While Everyone Sleeps," with Sara Bilotti, Armando Guarino, and Martin Rua, hosted by Serena Venditto.
- 11:00 AM, Teatrino della Verzura — "Crimes and Football. Football, Diego, and many mysteries," by Giancarlo Piacci.
- 12:00 PM, Scalone Panoramico — Klara Murnau presents "Better call Klara" (Baldini+Castoldi).
- 12:00 PM, Teatrino della Verzura — Crime and comics; at 1:00 PM Mario Punzo meets Daniele Bigliardo, author of the festival poster.
- 1:00 PM, Scalone Panoramico — Giancarlo Vitagliano presents "La ballata di Sant'Ilario" (Homo Scrivens), hosted by Aldo Putignano.
- Throughout the day — Agatha Christie-themed treasure hunt, first table football tournament for crime writers, literary speed dating with writers and agents.
- 9:00 PM, Piazzetta Aldo Masullo (IoCiSto bookstore) — Maurizio de Giovanni in conversation with Ciro Sabatino: "One Hundred Years of Paper Crimes," free admission.
Highlights Naples Crime Fiction Festival 2026
- Carlo Lucarelli — "Favole nere", Friday, June 5th at 10:00 PM on the Palazzo Petrucci terrace in Posillipo.
- Maurizio de Giovanni, "One Hundred Years of Paper Crimes," grand free finale on Sunday, June 7th, in Piazzetta Aldo Masullo.
- "Dracula, an Impossible Interview" with Martin Rua and Marco Perillo, Saturday, June 6th, at the Teatrino della Verzura.
- Inaugural mystery game at FOQUS for the festival's five-year anniversary, with a Mediterranean cruise as the prize.
- True crime focus: Simonetta Cesaroni, Garlasco, the Monster of Florence, and the Costa Concordia recounted by journalists and investigators.
- International section with Dolores Redondo and Ángel de la Calle, in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes of Naples.
- First table football tournament for crime writers and literary speed dating with agents and editors, Sunday, June 7th.
Prices Naples Crime Fiction Festival 2026
Practical information — Naples Crime Fiction Festival
Where
Villa Floridiana, Via Domenico Cimarosa 77, 80127 Naples (Vomero district). Special events at FOQUS – Fondazione Quartieri Spagnoli, Palazzo Petrucci (Posillipo), and Piazzetta Aldo Masullo.
How to get there
- Metro: Line 1, Vanvitelli or Cimarosa (Quattro Giornate) stop, a few minutes' walk from the park entrance.
- Funiculars: Chiaia (Cimarosa station) and Centrale (Piazza Fuga station), both right next to Villa Floridiana.
- Train: Napoli Centrale, then Metro Line 1 towards Piscinola.
- Car: Vomero is a densely populated district where parking is very difficult; using public transport is strongly recommended.
Admission
Daytime events at Villa Floridiana are free to attend until capacity is reached. Some evening shows require paid tickets, available for purchase online via the platform indicated by the organizers and at the IoCiSto bookstore.
Tips
The park closes in the late afternoon: check the access and exit times published each year. Bring water, a hat, and comfortable shoes, as the festival spaces are spread along the park's sloping paths.
Contacts
Gialli.it Association — [email protected] — full program at gialli.it.
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Where does it take place — Naples Crime Fiction Festival
Villa Floridiana (Vomero)
Via Domenico Cimarosa 77, 80127 Napoli