This is not a Festival

A new festival in the heart of Novara

This is not a Festival launched in 2026 as one of the most ambitious cultural initiatives in the city of Novara, in Piedmont. The event takes place in the evocative courtyard of the Visconti-Sforza Castle, located in the heart of the historic center, and serves as an open space where literature and the arts become tools for interpreting the complexities of the present. Promoted by the Municipality of Novara together with the Circolo dei Lettori Foundation and the Castello Foundation, with the support of the Piedmont Region, the festival is designed as the first step of a project destined to grow in the years to come.

It's a whole different Story

The central theme of the first edition is the relationship between individual stories and the major turning points of History. From the birth of the Italian Republic to European milestones, from literary anxieties to contemporary chronicles, every event tackles complex themes with accessible language. Three days alternating between reflection, imagination, and performance, in a continuous dialogue between written words, music, and images.

Guests and protagonists

The program brings together some of the most recognizable voices on the Italian cultural scene:

• Serena Dandini, opening the festival with a talk dedicated to the women of the Constitution;
• Niccolò Ammaniti, in conversation about his latest novel;
• Paolo Nori, with a reading of Dostoevsky;
• Vasco Brondi, between art and spirituality;
• Mario Calabresi, on the craft of journalism;
• Jacopo Veneziani, on women in art history;
• Beppe Severgnini, on major geopolitical shifts.

Alongside the talks, the festival's soundtrack is curated by musicians and DJs such as Paolo Spaccamonti, Gup Alcaro, and Samuel Romano, featuring musical aperitifs and a live score for silent cinema.

Literature, music, and cinema under the stars

The edition offers a refined balance between genres: book presentations and author conversations, concerts and electronic sets, and a screening of the Hitchcock classic The Lodger with a live musical accompaniment. Everything takes place outdoors, in the monumental setting of the castle, in an informal and participatory atmosphere that invites the public to pause, listen, and engage in dialogue.

An event for Novara and its Province

With completely free admission and five hundred seats in the courtyard, This is not a Festival aims to be a celebration open to the entire city of Novara and its Province. It is an opportunity to experience the historic center through a cultural lens and to discover how, through everyone's individual stories, the great History of all takes shape.