Sete Sóis Sete Luas Festival – Rome Stage

An itinerant festival crossing the Mediterranean

The Sete Sóis Sete Luas Festival is no ordinary event: it is an itinerant cultural network, founded in 1993, that connects about thirty cities in nine countries bordering the Mediterranean and the Lusophone world every year—Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Morocco, Tunisia, and Cape Verde. The name, meaning "Seven Suns Seven Moons," refers to a character from the novel Baltasar and Blimunda by José Saramago, who was the festival's first honorary president. The Rome stage is one of the historic stops on the circuit and is included every summer in the Estate Romana program promoted by Rome Capital.

What to listen to

The Roman program focuses on popular, ethnic, and traditional music that rarely reaches commercial circuits. Over the years, the capital has hosted Portuguese fadistas, Cape Verdean singer-songwriters and bands, and groups playing Arabic and Mediterranean music, in addition to the festival's original productions: the famous 7Sóis Orkestra, ensembles created for the occasion by bringing together musicians of different nationalities around a common project. Alongside the concerts, the international circuit also brings dance, street theater, and contemporary circus, with companies traveling from one city to another within the network.

• Fado and Portuguese singer-songwriter music
• Cape Verdean music: morna, coladeira, funaná, batuque
• Multicultural orchestras produced by the festival
• Arabic, Mediterranean, and Balkan music
• Street arts and contemporary circus in the network's host cities

Roman venues

In Rome, the festival moves between two hubs. The first is Villa Barberini, home to the Embassy of Portugal on Via Riccardo Zandonai, in the Camilluccia area: an intimate garden that hosts opening evening concerts, often national premieres. The second is Piazza San Pietro in Montorio, on the Janiculum Hill a stone's throw from Trastevere, in front of the Royal Academy of Spain: for over five years, it has been one of the most evocative open-air stages of the event, with the city unfolding behind the audience. The choice of locations changes from year to year depending on collaborations with foreign embassies and academies present in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in Lazio.

A social dimension

The festival is not limited to public concerts. For several years, the Roman leg has also included solidarity concerts in the capital's correctional facilities: the Casal del Marmo Juvenile Detention Center and the Rebibbia Prison have hosted artists from the circuit multiple times for meetings reserved for inmates. This is a less visible part of the program but consistent with the spirit of the project, which considers music a tool for dialogue rather than just entertainment.

How the evening works

Roman concerts usually start at 9 PM in the summer and are free with no reservation required: it is advisable to arrive fifteen minutes early, as seating is limited and the space fills up quickly on the most anticipated nights. The atmosphere is informal and familiar, very different from large summer festivals: these are intimate evenings with a few hundred people, where musicians introduce their songs and talk about their homeland. For those visiting Rome in July, it is a different way to experience the city, off the beaten tourist path.

Information and contacts

The complete program for all stages, including Rome, is published on the festival's official website, usually between June and July. The Roman organization is headed by the Associazione Culturale Gruppo Immagini, which in 2025 saw the project for the 33rd edition funded by the "Roma Creativa 365" call of the Municipality of Rome.