Rive Vive

A festival born from the river

In Boretto, a small municipality in the Bassa Reggiana overlooking the Po, in the province of Reggio Emilia, the river is not just a border of water: it is memory, work, and identity. Rive Vive was created precisely to bring the community and visitors back to the riverbanks, with a weekend in May dedicated to the culture, music, and traditions of the area. Promoted by the Municipality of Boretto together with the Pro Loco and numerous local organizations, the festival has in a few years become one of the most beloved events of the Reggiana spring.

What makes Rive Vive special

The heart of the event is the valorization of the river landscape and its heritage. Boretto houses a unique system of water museums in the area — from the Po River Museum to the Bridge Builders Museum, to the Multimedia Museum of the Emilia Centrale Land Reclamation — which open their doors during the festival with guided tours during the day and evening, accompanied by performances and installations.

• Po River Navigation: on board the historic motorship Padus, with live music during the upstream journey.
• Water Museums: special openings, including evening sessions with the "A Night at the Museum" formula.
• Piazza San Marco: local market, lunch with typical dishes, concerts, and shows for adults and children.
• Painting Competition: artists at work on the banks and the beach of the Po.
• Family Activities: bike rides among the museums, workshops, and entertainment for children.

A weekend between water and memory

The structure of the festival combines cultural and convivial dimensions: Saturday is dedicated to water and the memory of the territory, with evening museum openings and sunset concerts; Sunday the Po becomes a natural stage, with the painting competition, musical navigation, and the animation of Piazza San Marco. The festival has free admission, with the only exception of some activities requiring booking, such as the typical lunch and the river cruise.

Boretto and the great river

Visiting Rive Vive means discovering a corner of Emilia-Romagna often off the main tourist routes: the Regional Tourist Port, the Basilica of San Marco Evangelista, the embankments, and the floodplains of the Po. A day in Boretto during the festival is the best way to understand why, in this part of the Reggiana plain, the river is considered a true protagonist of collective life.