ThòlosFestival (Raccuja stage)

A festival spread across the Nebrodi villages

The ThòlosFestival is an arts and culture showcase held in the heart of the Nebrodi Park, in the province of Messina, involving the small towns of Floresta, Raccuja, San Piero Patti, and Ucria. Promoted by the Centro Teatrale Siciliano and artistically directed by Nino Romeo, the festival was created with the goal of bringing great theatre and classical music to the historic villages of the Sicilian hinterland, which are too often left off the major cultural circuits.

The Raccuja stage

In Raccuja, a small town in the province of Messina perched among the Nebrodi mountains, performances are held in places of great identity, first and foremost the evocative Castello Branciforti, the ancient residence of the counts who once ruled the village. The free evening events transform the historic centre into an open-air stage, where locals and visitors gather under the stars to enjoy theatre, concerts, and storytelling.

Three souls: drama, music, and tradition

The ThòlosFestival programme is structured into three complementary strands:

• Contemporary drama, featuring texts by Sicilian authors such as Franco Scaldati, Vincenzo Pirrotta, and Nino Romeo himself;
• Music in village churches, with sacred repertoires, Spanish and Latin American pieces, and melologues;
• Sicily between tradition and modernity, with the Opera dei Pupi (puppet theatre), songs by the Fratelli Mancuso, and tributes to figures like Rosa Balistreri.

Culture for small towns

The festival is part of a project to enhance the attractiveness of historic villages, supported by funds from the Ministry of Culture and the European Union. The underlying idea is that of community theatre, capable of enlivening the centres of the Nebrodi and creating a dialogue between great artists and territories often considered marginal. For Raccuja, the ThòlosFestival represents one of the most anticipated cultural events of the summer.