Scanno Borgo in Festival

A festival spread throughout the alleys of Scanno

Scanno Borgo in Festival is the cultural event that, every summer, illuminates one of Italy's most beautiful and photographed villages: Scanno, in the province of L'Aquila, within the Sagittario Valley and the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park. It is not just a single event, but a widespread program that, for weeks, distributes concerts, theatrical performances, author meetings, art installations, and poetry readings across the most evocative corners of the town.

The festival stems from an all-female experience, the Ju Buk Festival—the women's literary festival directed by sociologist and journalist Eleonora de Nardis—and has progressively expanded into a container capable of embracing music, theater, art, and literature. It is promoted by the Scanno Borgo in Festival Committee with the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and the Abruzzo Region.

The venues: the village becomes a stage

What makes Scanno Borgo in Festival unique is how it uses the town as a natural backdrop. The events shift from evening to evening: from the squares of the historic center—with its stone houses, carved portals, and women in traditional costumes—to the shores of Lake Scanno, the famous heart-shaped body of water. A separate chapter is dedicated to Frattura Vecchia, the village abandoned after the 1915 Marsica earthquake, which comes back to life during festival nights thanks to poetic walks and site-specific performances.

A program that weaves different arts together

The program alternates between very different registers, with a common thread that changes from year to year. Recurring offerings include:

• Literary meetings with writers, journalists, and intellectuals, a direct legacy of the Ju Buk Festival;
• Concerts in intimate settings, ranging from classical music to candlelit chamber ensembles;
• Outdoor theater, with performances reflecting on memory, identity, and community;
• Light and art installations that play with perception and transform the village's vistas;
• Poetic walks that combine hiking, landscape, and the spoken word.

Why it's worth the trip

Scanno Borgo in Festival is the perfect opportunity to discover authentic Abruzzo far from the major tourist circuits: a mountain village that becomes an open-air cultural laboratory in summer, where the beauty of the landscape dialogues with words, music, and art. For those visiting the Sagittario Valley, it is the best way to experience Scanno not just as a postcard, but as a vibrant and creative community.