Prima Onda Fest

Prima Onda Fest: performing arts in Palermo

Prima Onda Fest is a multidisciplinary festival dedicated to the performing arts, deeply rooted in the territory of Palermo and spread across the municipalities of the province in Sicily. Born in 2021 through the initiative of the Genìa - Laboratorio Artisti Palermo collective in collaboration with the DAMS degree course at the University of Palermo, the festival explores contemporary culture to discover new identities, revitalise neighbourhoods, and deepen the debate on the evolution of theatre, dance, and music in Italy and abroad.

A festival spread between the centre and the suburbs

The hallmark of Prima Onda Fest is its widespread nature: performances inhabit different spaces in the Municipality of Palermo, from the Botanical Garden to the Steri, from the Teatro Garibaldi to the Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, and even the southern outskirts along the banks of the Oreto river and the town of Cinisi. The festival fosters a dialogue between different generations of Sicilian artists and the national and international scene, making hospitality—a foundational value of the history of Sicily and Palermo—one of its central themes.

Three sections, one vision

In recent editions, the programme has been divided into three distinct sections:

• Metamorphosis: art in its natural state, featuring dawn performances, poetic visions, and immersive shows in the city's green spaces;
• Derive: art that becomes community, with a programme based in Cinisi that involves families, residents, and the memory of the places;
• Approdi: the most radical and courageous side of the festival, featuring the most intense voices of the contemporary scene, spanning dance, political theatre, and ancestral sounds.

Artistic direction and organisation

The festival is led by a collective artistic direction—including Manuela Lo Sicco for theatre, Giovanna Velardi for dance, Luca Giannetto for music, and Cristina Alga for site-specific projects—and is supported by a public-private model involving UniPa Heritage (University of Palermo), CoopCulture, and the DAMS UniPa. With over sixty events spread over several months, Prima Onda Fest is now one of the most vibrant fixtures on the Palermitan performing arts scene.