Pordenonelegge

When an entire city becomes a festival

Since 2000, Pordenonelegge has transformed the way books are experienced in Italy. For five days in September, squares, auditoriums, libraries, museums, and courtyards in Pordenone fill with readers, writers, and thinkers: not a festival hosted in a place, but a festival that is the city, with the public moving on foot from one event to another as if in a single, grand collective conversation.

The Festival of Books and Freedom

The subtitle is not mere rhetoric: Pordenonelegge places freedom of thought and speech at its core. The program intertwines fiction and poetry with major contemporary themes—economics, medicine, society, geopolitics, the environment—giving space to both internationally renowned authors and emerging talents, in a balance that has become the event's hallmark.

Numbers of a major national festival

With over one hundred thousand attendees each edition, hundreds of events, and dozens of venues spread across the city and region, Pordenonelegge is now among the most followed literary festivals in Italy. Organized by the Fondazione Pordenonelegge.it with the artistic direction of Gian Mario Villalta, the event is supported by the Municipality of Pordenone, the Province, and the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Towards Italian Capital of Culture 2027

In recent years, the festival has been a driving force behind the initiative that will lead Pordenone to become the Italian Capital of Culture 2027, confirming the city's role as a cultural crossroads in the Northeast and a bridge between Italy and Europe.