Storie in cielo e in terra - Children's Festival dedicated to Gianni Rodari

A festival born from the woods and the imagination of Rodari

Storie in cielo e in terra is the children's festival that brings the Bosco di Macchia Grande in Manziana to life every spring, located in the Metropolitan City of Rome, just outside the Bracciano and Martignano lakes district. It is no coincidence that it was born here: Gianni Rodari had a house in Manziana, and this Lazio town was one of his refuges—the place where he breathed, imagined, and composed nursery rhymes, fables, and characters. The festival gathers that legacy and returns it to today's children, bringing it outdoors among the ancient turkey oaks of the forest.

Reading while walking, playing while acting

The guiding idea is simple and joyful: read while walking, act while playing, participate while smiling. For three days, the beech forest becomes a natural theatre alternating between itinerant shows, outdoor readings, creative workshops, scientific games, puppet and figure theatre, walks among the trees, and a library in the woods set up among the trunks. Alongside the little ones are families, local schools, and an adult audience that finds, in Rodari's irony, a different way of looking at things.

The soul of the programme

• Theatre in the woods: figure theatre, puppets, and storytelling, with mobile sets that move through the clearings and lead the audience from one story to the next.
• Itinerant readings: excerpts from Rodari and the best children's literature read along the trails, without stages or chairs.
• Workshops: kite making, botanical painting, creative knitting, and small bicycle repair stations.
• Nature and science: nature games, forest observation, and evening walks that combine scientific popularisation with shadow theatre.
• Family bike rides: gentle cycling excursions between the town and the woods, designed even for the youngest.
• Final concert: the closing is entrusted to a grand symphonic concert among the trees, featuring the orchestra of the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia.

A cultural project, not just an event

The festival is conceived and curated by Fernanda Pessolano with the association Ti con Zero ETS, promoted by the DMO Beltur - Laghi di Roma together with the Municipality of Manziana and supported by the Lazio Region, as part of the broader project «The Fantastic Journey of Gianni Rodari». The stated goal is ambitious: to make Manziana a permanent literary hub dedicated to the writer's work, capable of working year-round with schools and local libraries, not just during the festival days.

The Bosco di Macchia Grande

The setting is an integral part of the experience. The Macchia di Manziana is a natural monument of Lazio, one of the most extensive and best-preserved turkey oak forests in central Italy, just a few steps from the town and the Caldara Natural Monument. Walking among these trees while an actor tells a nursery rhyme, or listening to forty musicians playing under the canopy, is what makes «Storie in cielo e in terra» different from a normal children's festival: nature is not a decorative background, it is the co-protagonist of the story.

Who it is for

The festival is aimed at children and teenagers, but it is not an event "just for kids." The multidisciplinary formula, which weaves together theatre, children's literature, science, and shared experiences, works just as well for adults: those accompanying their children almost always end up participating. Admission is free, with reservations required for limited-capacity activities, making the event one of the most accessible offerings of the Roman northern coast's cultural spring.