Open Terraces and Courtyards in Torpignattara

A festival born from the neighborhood

Open Terraces and Courtyards is a widespread festival born in 2019 from the initiative of a group of residents in Torpignattara, one of the most vibrant, complex, and multicultural neighborhoods in Rome. The idea is simple and generous: owners of terraces, gardens, and small residential courtyards make their spaces—often little-known outside the local community—available, transforming them for a weekend into open-air stages for music, art, photography, theater, and literature. The festival has always maintained a self-funded and self-managed character, with free admission for all.

The seventh edition (2026)

In 2026, the event returned on Saturday, June 6th, and Sunday, June 7th, for its seventh edition, presented as the most inclusive yet. For the occasion, the festival expanded its boundaries beyond Via Casilina, reaching less-frequented areas of the district and involving a growing number of residents willing to open their homes, terraces, courtyards, and gardens. The multiplicity of locations creates a truly widespread event, capable of weaving local traditions with new forms of cultural expression.

Exhibitions, music, and visual arts

The program is spread across about twenty spaces open to the public, generally from 10 am to 10 pm. Participating venues include the new cultural space Okapi on Viale Filarete, the RELab restoration workshop, the Blu Spazio delle Arti on Via di Tor Pignattara, the Mutable Flat Lab, the Terrazza/ino, and the Spazio Celestino. Exhibitions range from visual arts to photography, sculpture, and video art, featuring solo shows by painter Enzo Forletta, installations by Lino Strangis, and photographic displays by Andrea Salvatori and Carlo Faccenda.

• Live music: concerts of various genres, from jazz-funk to electronic music, and from singer-songwriter tracks to folk songs.
• Folk songs of Central-Southern Italy: at Parco Sangalli, the Viterbo-based group Tusciamannate performed pizzica, tarantella, and tammurriata.
• Percussion and world rhythms: the stage also hosted Neyba, the Brazilian percussion group Criansa, and musician Sterbus.
• Workshops and meetings: from pottery workshops to exercises in utopia, as well as meditation sessions and a pizzica performance.

Markets and community spirit

Alongside the artistic events, the festival hosts markets featuring sustainable fashion, natural cosmetics, vinyl records, and artisanal products from small local producers and organizations, such as the offerings from Eterico Orizzonte and Lunaria. The result is a grand neighborhood celebration that unites long-time residents and the many communities living in Torpignattara, inviting Romans and visitors alike to discover secret and evocative corners of the district.

Torpignattara and Rome

Located in the V Municipality of Rome Capital, in the Lazio region, Torpignattara is a working-class and cosmopolitan neighborhood east of the center, along the Via Casilina axis. With "Open Terraces and Courtyards," the district tells its own story through its domestic spaces, offering a rare model of participatory, grassroots, and completely free culture.