Reading Aloud Festival - Read Narrate Listen
Three days of voices, books, and listening at Palazzo Caracciolo, in the heart of Irpinia
About Reading Aloud Festival
A festival born from reading volunteerism
The Reading Aloud Festival - Read Narrate Listen is the cultural event that the Municipality of Forino, in the province of Avellino, saw come to life in May 2026. This is not a top-down event: the festival is the natural outcome of nearly two years of work in the area by the LaAV Forino Circle, the first LaAV circle in Irpinia, coordinated by Rosalia Spolverino, which has brought shared reading sessions into schools, libraries, and the valley's squares.
LaAV - Letture ad Alta Voce (Reading Aloud) is a national network of volunteer circles who read for others, with a simple and clear motto: I read for others. In Forino, that principle became a three-day program, built with the Teen LaAV Circle of Contrada, composed of readers aged 7 to 16 and coordinated by teacher Mariapia Mollica. The initiative took place under the patronage of the Province of Avellino and the Municipalities of Forino and Contrada.
Three sections: Read, Narrate, Listen
The title is not just a slogan: the three words correspond to the three days and the three sections into which the festival is organized. The Read section opens the event by going directly into classrooms, with readings aimed at primary and preschool students in Forino and the village of Celzi. The Narrate section is dedicated to Southern memory, popular roots, and the stories that the South passes down orally. The Listen section closes the journey with a day entirely designed for children and families.
Palazzo Caracciolo and the Villa Comunale
The heart of the festival is Palazzo Caracciolo, a historic residence in the center of Forino, flanked by the Villa Comunale. On the final day, the two locations are joined by a literary walk: children move from one station to another, meeting an author, a workshop, or a volunteer reader along the way. It is a formula that turns the village into an open book and fulfills one of the organizers' stated goals: to enhance the historic center of Forino through culture.
Irpinian authors and voices from all over Italy
The program of the first edition alternated between writers from Irpinia and authors from other Italian regions. Alongside female poetry readings and meetings with children's book publishers, the festival did not shy away from difficult topics: the memory of internees during the war, femicide, organized crime, and inclusion. A significant aspect was the corner dedicated to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), designed so that children with communication difficulties could also participate in the celebration of reading.
Forino, Irpinia, and inland Campania
Forino is a town of a few thousand inhabitants overlooking the valley that connects Avellino to the Agro Nocerino area, in that inland Campania made of villages, chestnut groves, and very lively oral traditions. It is precisely this intimate scale that makes the festival unique: here, reading aloud is not a literary exercise for insiders, but a way to hold a community together. The Campania Region is known primarily for its major coastal events and for Naples, but it is in the Irpinian hinterland that cultural initiatives of this type continue to emerge, supported almost entirely by volunteers.
A festival for children and teenagers
- Animated readings and picture books in preschools and primary schools
- Creative and philosophy workshops for the little ones
- Baby yoga and snacks in the garden of the Villa Comunale
- A contest with a final awards ceremony, with a jury composed of journalists and cultural workers
- The direct involvement of the young readers of the Teen LaAV Circle
Free admission
All appointments of the first edition were free of charge, consistent with the spirit of LaAV volunteerism. The festival was supported by local sponsors and the collaboration of schools, the Pro Loco, and the municipal administrations of Forino and Contrada.
Reading Aloud Festival — edition 2026
Three days, three keywords, and an entire town involved: the first edition of the Reading Aloud Festival - Read Narrate Listen took shape in Forino between May 28 and 30, 2026, with Palazzo Caracciolo as headquarters and the Villa Comunale as a natural outdoor extension.
The artistic direction was entrusted to Rosalia Spolverino, coordinator of the LaAV Forino Circle, assisted by the Teen LaAV Circle of Contrada led by Mariapia Mollica. The festival took place under the patronage of the Province of Avellino and the Municipalities of Forino and Contrada, and with the support of local sponsors.
The calendar alternated readings in schools, poetry readings, book presentations, and literary performances, also addressing civil themes such as femicide, organized crime, and inclusion. The final day, dedicated to children, featured a literary walk with reading stations, a philosophy workshop with the puppet Sofia, an Augmentative and Alternative Communication corner, baby yoga, and the awards ceremony for the first LaAV contest.
Programme Reading Aloud Festival 2026
Thursday, May 28 - READ section
- 9.30 AM - "Gennaro Vespucci" Primary School: opening of the festival with headmistress Antonella De Donno and municipal delegate for Public Education Carmela Del Gaizo; author Paolo D'Amato reads pages from "Gli internati liberi di Forino".
- 10.30 AM - "Angelo Laudati" Primary School in Celzi: reading continues with Paolo D'Amato.
- 2.00 PM - Preschools of Forino and Celzi: LaAV volunteer readers propose picture books by Mario Ramos and Davide Calì.
- 6.30 PM - Sala Grasso: institutional greetings; Assunta Panza discusses the novel "La Visionaria" with Rosalia Spolverino; followed by the female poetry reading "Coro di lune" with Antonietta Gnerre, Cinzia Coppola, Monia Gaita, Aurelia Salzano, and Antonio De Feo.
Friday, May 29 - NARRATE section
- 11.00 AM - Extraordinary opening of the Forino Pro Loco museum.
- 6.30 PM - "Radice Meridionale": Virgilio Caivano talks about his project on the development of small Southern towns, in dialogue with Fabio Galetta.
- 7.15 PM - Emanuela Sica presents "Memorie di una Janara" with Antonio Severino and Rosalia Spolverino; Maria Rosaria Califano interprets the character of the Janara.
Saturday, May 30 - LISTEN section
Morning - literary walk between the courtyard of Palazzo Caracciolo and the Villa Comunale, with reading stations for children:
- Gian Marco Manzo with "Snowy, il pinguino che voleva volare"
- Diana Marciano with "La canzone del pescatore"
- Antonio De Feo and the philosophy workshop with the puppet Sofia
- Antonietta Gnerre with "La piccola scrittrice della Valle del Sabato"
- Bookinfluencer Cristina Di Matteo with her reading recommendations
- Readers of the Teen LaAV Circle with picture books
- Corner dedicated to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
- 12.00 PM - Baby yoga with Valentina Quaresima and snack offered by the Valerio Pennetti farm.
- 1.00 PM - Awards ceremony of the first LaAV contest, with the jury composed of Lisa Buonavita, Pasquale Luca Nacca, and Gianni Festa.
- 4.00 PM - Literary performance "Tutti dentro!" by poet Rita Pacilio.
- 5.00 PM - Live connection with Paola Grand, national coordinator of LaAV.
- 5.30 PM - Vincenzo Borsa and Valentina Iannaco present "Avevo gli occhi belli", dedicated to Anna Borsa, a victim of femicide.
- 7.00 PM - Honorable Davide D'Errico, regional councilor, closes the festival with "Contro i giganti".
- 8.30 PM - Inauguration of the exhibition "Le donne pagliaccio" by Paola Saccardo.
The program was preceded by a press presentation on Saturday, May 23, 2026, at Palazzo Caracciolo, with author Giuseppe Del Giudice.
Highlights Reading Aloud Festival 2026
- The Saturday literary walk between the courtyard of Palazzo Caracciolo and the Villa Comunale, with children moving from one author to another.
- "Coro di lune", the female poetry reading that opened the evening of May 28.
- "Memorie di una Janara" by Emanuela Sica, with the theatrical interpretation by Maria Rosaria Califano.
- "Radice Meridionale" by Virgilio Caivano, on the future of small Southern towns.
- "Tutti dentro!", the literary performance by poet Rita Pacilio.
- The AAC corner and the involvement of readers aged 7 to 16 from the Teen LaAV Circle of Contrada.
Prices Reading Aloud Festival 2026
Practical information — Reading Aloud Festival
How to get there
Forino is located about 12 km from Avellino, along the road that descends towards the Sabato valley. By car, take the Baiano exit or travel along the Avellino-Salerno motorway junction with the Forino exit. The reference train station is Avellino, connected to Forino by AIR Campania bus lines. The nearest airport is Naples-Capodichino, about an hour's drive away.
Where it takes place
The main venues are Palazzo Caracciolo and the Villa Comunale, both in the center of Forino and within walking distance of each other. Some events are held in the town's schools and in the village of Celzi.
Tickets
Free admission to all events. For workshops dedicated to children, advance registration may be required: it is advisable to check the social media channels of the LaAV Forino Circle.
Tips
The festival is particularly suitable for families with children: the final Saturday is entirely built around them. For overnight stays, the most convenient choice is Avellino, while there is no shortage of farmhouses and B&Bs in the area in the towns of the Picentini Mountains.
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Where does it take place — Reading Aloud Festival
Palazzo Caracciolo