Periferie Fantastiche – Cultural Festival

A festival lighting up Rome's outskirts

Periferie Fantastiche is a decentralized cultural festival that chooses the suburbs as its stage. Through performing and visual arts, the project brings shows, performances, and workshops into the everyday spaces of Rome's Municipio XIV, between the hills of Monte Mario and the working-class neighborhoods of Primavalle. The goal is simple yet ambitious: to offer widespread opportunities for social gathering and cultural growth right where cultural offerings are often most scarce.

Where: Municipio XIV, between Monte Mario and Primavalle

The festival takes place in the northwest sector of the capital, within the territory of Municipio XIV, which includes neighborhoods such as Primavalle, Monte Mario, Torrevecchia, Quartaccio, and Pineta Sacchetti. It is a densely populated area with a strong local identity and a vibrant community that has seen a rise in grassroots cultural initiatives in recent years. Periferie Fantastiche integrates into this fabric, choosing squares, gardens, and local spaces as natural meeting points for artists and citizens.

Performing and visual arts for the local area

The festival's program draws on diverse languages with a distinctly multidisciplinary approach. Key expressive forms featured in the event include:

• theater and street theater, taken out of traditional venues and returned to public spaces;
• dance and performance art, with moments open to public participation;
• live music, serving as the soundtrack for the neighborhoods;
• visual arts, including photography exhibitions, painting, and installations designed for the local area;
• workshops aimed at young people, families, and children, to make residents protagonists rather than just spectators.

Roma Creativa 365: the institutional framework

The festival was born under the Roma Creativa 365. Cultura tutto l'anno public notice, promoted by Roma Capitale and managed by Zètema Progetto Cultura. This two-year program allocates over 8.5 million euros to support cultural activities distributed throughout the year across the entire city. Periferie Fantastiche falls under Subsection 1/A, dedicated specifically to performing and visual arts projects spread across the territory, with the aim of overcoming the seasonality of events and reaching neighborhoods furthest from the city center.

A festival for the community

More than just a review, Periferie Fantastiche presents itself as a community project. The free nature of the initiatives, the choice of accessible spaces, and the direct involvement of residents aim to make culture a tool for inclusion and rediscovery of one's neighborhood. Within the context of the Municipality of Rome and the Lazio Region, the festival tells a story of the periphery not as a margin, but as a fantastic place to imagine, inhabit, and transform together.