Una Giornata Leggend…aria

An open-air library in the heart of Vomero

Una Giornata Leggend…aria. Books and readers on the streets of Naples is one of the most original cultural initiatives in the capital of Campania. For one afternoon—typically a Thursday in May—the pedestrian streets of Vomero (Via Alessandro Scarlatti, Via Luca Giordano, and Piazza Fuga) cease to be just the city's commercial hub and become a massive space for shared reading. There is no single stage or enclosure; instead, you will find reading stations, improvised lecterns, and young people holding books, stopping passersby to read aloud.

How the event was born

The idea is simple and stems from a bitter realization. Around 2015, in the hilly district of the Municipality of Naples, historic bookstores were progressively closing their doors. If the places dedicated to reading were disappearing, then reading would have to go out into the street to find its own readers. From that intuition, the «Alberto Mario Moriconi» Cultural Association, chaired by Bernardina Moriconi, built a recurring event that reached its twelfth edition in 2026.

Every year, the event is presented in the foyer of the Teatro Diana in Vomero, in the presence of writers, journalists, school principals, and administrators of the 5th Municipality: a ritual that kicks off weeks of preparation in schools.

A different theme every year

The formula remains the same, but the central theme changes with each edition, guiding the readings, meetings, and competitions:

• 2026 — «F for Family»: family understood in the broadest possible sense, not just the domestic unit but also communities that share intentions, goals, and feelings.
• 2025 — Journalism: a tribute to newspapers and those who write them, a bastion of free and informed public opinion against the rush and clamor of social media.

The theme is not merely a decorative pretext; it becomes the blueprint for short stories written by students, the criteria for selecting passages to read in the street, and the subject of meetings with authors.

Schools as protagonists

The true engine of the event is the Neapolitan school system, which works for weeks and then spills out onto the neighborhood streets with readings, theatrical performances, and flash mobs. Eight schools took part in the 2026 edition — Mazzini, Mercalli, Pansini, Sannazaro, Belvedere, D'Ovidio-Nicolardi, Scialoja-Cortese Rodinò, and Viale delle Acacie — while nine schools were involved in 2025. For hundreds of middle and high school students, it is an opportunity to read in public and test themselves against an unchosen audience: the people passing through Via Scarlatti to shop or meet friends.

Writers, illustrators, and juries

Along the route, thematic zones managed by cultural partners alternate: the Scuola Italiana di Comix with its artists, the Festival del Giallo with noir authors, and a station dedicated to writers, where authors read their own work or that of others, or entrust it to the voices of actors. Over the years, well-known names from the Neapolitan literary and journalistic scene have participated, including Maurizio de Giovanni, Pino Imperatore, Aldo Putignano, Titti Marrone, Anna Copertino, Stefano De Stefano, and Arturo De Vivo.

The afternoon concludes in Piazza Fuga with the awards ceremony: a jury presents prizes for the short story competition reserved for students and for the best reading performances.

A network of associations and institutions

The event is organized in collaboration with the Municipality of Naples and the 5th Municipality, the Iocisto bookstore (a member-owned bookstore born from neighborhood mobilization), the «Annalisa Durante» Foundation, the «Bambini in Famiglia» association, the «Famiglia di Maria» Foundation, the Giffoni Film Festival, and the Festival del Giallo. An ecosystem that perfectly illustrates the associative vitality of this part of Naples.

Why it is worth attending

Anyone who happens to be in Vomero on that May afternoon will find themselves immersed in something that resembles neither a book fair nor a traditional literary festival. It is a free, widespread event that you experience by walking, restoring a civic function to the street. For the visitor, it is also a different way to get to know the neighborhood: its pedestrian squares, its historic shops, the funicular that climbs up from Chiaia, the nearby Castel Sant'Elmo, and the Certosa di San Martino just a few steps away.