Tolfa Gialli & Noir Festival

Crime and noir in the heart of the Tolfa Mountains

The Tolfa Gialli & Noir Festival is a literary event entirely dedicated to crime and noir novels. Since 2012, it has brought life to Tolfa, a hillside village located between Civitavecchia and Lake Bracciano, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio. Born from a happy coincidence that united the work of the Chirone Cultural Association with the ideas of Hispanist and translator Glauco Felici and his wife Antonella Biondi, the festival has established itself nationally over the years, being cited by local press as one of Italy's most important literary festivals for the genre.

An original and theatrical formula

What sets Tolfa Gialli & Noir apart from traditional book fairs is its format: presentations are transformed into genuine shows, featuring a theatrical layout and original set designs, curated in various editions by local artist and photographer Valentina Vannicola. Since the very first edition, the evenings have been hosted by Gino Saladini: a forensic pathologist, clinical psychologist, criminologist, and crime novelist, who masterfully interviews authors in a conversational and entertaining atmosphere, blending crime, literature, and irony.

The Glauco Felici Prize

Since 2014, the festival has awarded the Glauco Felici Literary Prize, dedicated to the memory of its founder and reserved for new voices in Italian crime fiction. Supported by the Felici family and the CARICIV Foundation, the award has honored authors such as Lorenza Ghinelli with "Bunny Boy" (Marsilio) and Lavinia Petti with "Dove nascono le ombre" (Mondadori), selected from shortlists published by Italy's major publishing houses.

A bridge between Italy and Norway

Each year, the program includes at least three highlights: the summer evenings dedicated to Italian writers in the Renaissance cloister of the Cultural Center, the Glauco Felici Prize ceremony, and an encounter between Italian and Nordic crime fiction. Thanks to the collaboration with the Norwegian Embassy, NORLA, and the Italo-Norwegian Study Center, the autumn edition—hosted at the Teatro Claudio or the former church of San Giuseppe—has brought Scandinavian authors such as Aslak Nore and Helene Flood to Tolfa, alongside Italian voices like Alessandra Carati and Michele Vaccari.

The great names of Italian noir

Over the years, the festival has hosted many key figures of Italian genre fiction: Sandrone Dazieri, Marco Vichi, Massimo Carlotto, Maurizio de Giovanni, and Alessandro Robecchi, among others. The free evening events attract a loyal audience that brings together local readers and enthusiasts traveling from Rome and across Lazio.

Tolfa, a village of culture

The festival is organized by the Chirone Cultural Association in collaboration with the Taitle Ingegno Multiforme cooperative, with the support of the CARICIV Foundation and the collaboration of the Municipality of Tolfa and the Ottantunocento Association. Furthermore, since 2022, the festival has hosted the "Tolfa Gialli & Noir OFF" literary space in the courtyard of the Palazzaccio during TolfArte, the major international street art festival that takes over the village every August: a synergy that makes Tolfa, already known for its catana leather craftsmanship and the tradition of the butteri (cowboys), one of the summer capitals of culture in Lazio.