Zagarolo Music Festival

The summer solstice in music

The Zagarolo Music Festival is the local take on the major European event that, every June 21st, coincides with the summer solstice and fills squares, streets, and courtyards in hundreds of cities with music. Born in France in 1982 and widespread in Italy since the mid-nineties, the event is based on a simple principle: music must be free, outdoors, and accessible to everyone, with musicians—professionals or amateurs—as the protagonists of public space. Zagarolo adheres to the national circuit coordinated by the AIPFM and promoted by the Ministry of Culture, bringing the festival into its historic center.

The 2025 edition in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi

On Saturday, June 21, 2025, the festival took place in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi, starting at 8:00 PM: seven live performances ranged from classical music to rock, offering musicians and bands from Zagarolo and neighboring towns the opportunity to perform in front of an audience of all ages. Among the artists announced by the Municipality were Mauro Restivo, Massimiliano Negri, and Valerio and Giordano Di Domenico. The evening coincided with the weekend of the Tordo Matto Festival, the food and wine event dedicated to the typical Zagarolo dish: a double appointment that transformed the historic center into a great celebration of flavors and notes.

From the station to Palazzo Rospigliosi: ten years of history

The Zagarolo event debuted in 2016 in the railway station square, then moved over the years to the most evocative places in the town. In 2018, the courtyard of Palazzo Rospigliosi, a sixteenth-century historic residence that is a symbol of Zagarolo, hosted concerts in collaboration with the Santa Cecilia Conservatory; in 2021, for the sixth edition, the same courtyard hosted a long evening with classical and jazz music performances entrusted to Sebastian Marino and Matteo Paris, followed by AlGot, I Centauri, Classitude, Francesco Schioppa, The Escape, the duo InControVoce, and I Sentinelli. On the national Music Festival portal, the Municipality participates through the Palazzo Rospigliosi Institution, confirming the link between the event and the city's monumental heritage.

A stage for local talent

More than a festival with big names, the Zagarolo Music Festival is a showcase for the local music scene: cover bands, young singer-songwriters, classical ensembles, and emerging groups from the Prenestini Mountains find a real stage and a large audience here. It is this participatory spirit, faithful to the original idea of the Fête de la Musique, that makes the evening a moment of community even before it is a show.

Zagarolo, a village in the Prenestini Mountains

The Municipality of Zagarolo rises on a tuff spur between the Castelli Romani and the Prenestini Mountains, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Lazio Region. Its elongated historic center, dominated by Palazzo Rospigliosi—now home to the Toy Museum—and rich in Baroque churches, is the ideal setting for an evening of music under the stars. The Music Festival is also an excellent opportunity to discover local specialties, from tordo matto to the wine of the Prenestini hills, perhaps taking advantage of the festivals that enliven the town during the same period.