Theaters of Light and Peace

Civil theater lighting up Mattinata

Theaters of Light and Peace is a civil theater festival that transforms Mattinata, a village in the Gargano area of the Province of Foggia, into an open-air laboratory for memory and civic engagement every spring. Promoted by the Municipality of Mattinata and coordinated by the AVL association, the event focuses on legality, inclusion, and social anti-mafia efforts, involving actors, schools, associations, and citizens in a journey of beauty, remembrance, and shared responsibility.

A festival spread across the town's landmarks

Performances are not confined to a traditional stage: the festival is widespread, choosing symbolic locations such as the Monte Saraceno Belvedere, which overlooks the Gargano coast and the Adriatic Sea. Musical readings, monologues, and screenings alternate with public dialogues and urban art projects, often created in collaboration with students from the Foggia Academy of Fine Arts. The result is a festival that speaks to the community and restores the town squares as spaces for civic life.

Memory and anti-mafia at the core

The common thread is the memory of mafia victims and civic commitment: past editions have paid tribute to figures such as Paolo and Agnese Borsellino and Franco Marcone, alternating auteur theater, documentaries, and moments of debate with magistrates and representatives of anti-mafia institutions. The program is designed to turn memory not into rhetoric, but into an opportunity for growth for both young people and adults.

An unmissable event for the Gargano community

With free admission and a strong educational vocation, Theaters of Light and Peace has become a highly anticipated spring event in the Gargano, attracting spectators, artists, and schools from across the Province of Foggia and the Puglia region. The festival is supported by the Puglia Region and is included in regional cultural circuits, confirming its deep roots in the Puglian civil theater landscape.