Ratike Art Festival

The Ratike Art Festival in Bisenti

The Ratike Art Festival is a street art and urban regeneration festival that brings the historic center of Bisenti to life—a small town in the province of Teramo, in the heart of Abruzzo. Launched in 2022 as a project by the Quasi Adatti Cultural Association, the festival invites Italian and international artists every year to create large murals on the facades of the village buildings, transforming the alleys and squares into a widespread and permanent urban art museum.

A project to revive the village

Since its first edition, the goal of the Ratike project has been to create metaphorical characters and new citizens who repopulate and revitalize the historic center through elements linked to the culture, history, traditions, nature, and food and wine of the Abruzzo region. In a town of just over 1,600 inhabitants, the murals become a way to combat depopulation and bring life and attention back to the ancient houses of Bisenti.

Artists and works

Over the years, the festival has hosted prominent names from the national and international mural scene. Among the artists who have left their mark on the walls of Bisenti are the Polish artist NeSpoon, famous for her lace-inspired paintings based on local textile traditions, the Greek artist Taxis, Italians Salvo Ligama, Davide Barca, Francesco Cretella, and Zed1, and the Roman artist Camilla Falsini, creator of the mural dedicated to the Warrior of Capestrano, an icon of Abruzzo's cultural identity.

Ratike and Coloriamoci Sopra

The festival is closely linked to the Coloriamoci Sopra event, which complements the creation of the murals with a rich program of side events: creative workshops for children, theatrical performances, concerts, exhibitions, painting competitions such as the Premio Brandy dedicated to local painter Antonio Brandimarte, and the promotion of local products. It is a June weekend where the entire village comes alive with art, music, and Abruzzese flavors.

Why visit Bisenti during the festival

Participating in the Ratike Art Festival means discovering one of the most authentic villages in the Teramo hinterland as it comes to life under the hands of the artists. Walking through the alleys allows you to admire the murals created in different editions, true visual stories of the history and traditions of this corner of Abruzzo, nestled between the green hills and the profiles of the Gran Sasso mountains.