Night of the Poets

A night of verse in the city of waters

The Night of the Poets is the annual summer event that transforms the Teatro Comunale in Fiuggi into a home for the poetic word. Established in 2018 and reaching its ninth edition in 2026, the evening is curated by the TDO Compagnia Stabile Città di Fiuggi and is hosted within the Emersioni cultural festival, the summer program that accompanies the spa town from June until early September.

Fiuggi, located in the municipality of the same name in the province of Frosinone, is known throughout Italy for its waters and spa tourism. However, the Night of the Poets reveals another side of the town: that of a Ciociaria hub that has maintained a strong bond with its own language and oral memory in the interior of the Lazio region.

What to expect from the evening

The format is simple and well-tested: one night, one venue, many voices. On the stage of the Teatro Comunale, readings of poetic texts, performances by the company's actors, and moments of shared listening with the audience alternate. There is none of the dispersion found in large literary festivals; here, everything is concentrated into a few hours, with a rhythm that leaves room for silence between one text and the next.

• A single evening in July, starting in the evening
• Free admission, following the formula adopted by the Emersioni festival
• Artistic direction that selects texts year by year around a specific theme
• Historic venue: the Teatro Comunale, the heart of the city's cultural life

Vernacular poetry, the 2026 common thread

The 2026 edition chose Italian vernacular poetry as its theme: a tribute to the linguistic roots, dialects, and oral traditions that remain the core of the country's regional identity. The artistic direction, entrusted to Antonello Bianchi, created a selection capable of balancing literary rigor with the expressive power of dialect, based on an idea of language that can describe the present with a precision and warmth that standard Italian does not always achieve.

It is a choice consistent with the territory: in southern Lazio, dialect is not a museum piece but a language still alive in homes, markets, and village festivals. Bringing it to the theater means restoring its literary dignity before an audience that often recognizes it as their own.

Part of the Emersioni festival

The Night of the Poets does not stand alone: it is part of Emersioni, the festival that the TDO Compagnia Teatrale has been running for years in Fiuggi, featuring classical theater, new dramaturgy, readings, documentaries, and cinema. Performances are held at the Teatro Comunale, on its monumental staircase, and in the alleys of the historic center, transforming the city into a widespread stage. Those arriving in Fiuggi for the poetry night will find other events from the same program in the surrounding weeks.

Why it's worth the trip

For those visiting Lazio in the summer, the Night of the Poets is an opportunity to see Fiuggi outside of the purely spa-focused circuit. The evening costs nothing, lasts just the right amount of time, and is perfect to combine with a walk in the upper village, through the medieval streets of Fiuggi Città, or a day at the thermal springs. It is a community event even before it is a tourist attraction: the audience is largely local, the atmosphere is intimate, and the welcome is cordial, as often happens in provincial theaters that have a resident company rooted in the territory.

A growing event

Since its first edition, the event has consolidated its audience, becoming one of the recognizable moments of Fiuggi's cultural summer alongside other events in the municipal calendar. The fact that the theme is renewed every year — from contemporary poetry to dialectal poetry — allows the evening to avoid repetition and attract different authors, readers, and enthusiasts each time.