From 2 to 6 September 2026, the medieval village of Varzi — included since 2021 among “The most beautiful villages in Italy” — will host the fourth edition of “The Varzi Festival“, which will take place for the first time in the new cultural hub financed by PNRR: theAuditorium G. Azzarettithe main stage of all five days with free admission which interweaves music, literature, civil theatre, cinema and photography into a single choral story. Conceived and directed by the Association VarziArte APS ETSthe 2026 Festival is taking place thanks to the alliance with the Monte di Lombardia Foundation and to the contribution of Lombardy Regionwith the support of Municipality of Varzi.
From the regeneration of the village to the new permanent stage
“The Varzi Festival” has managed to establish itself as one of the most significant summer events in Lombardy in just a few seasons. The first edition was held from 16 to 25 June 2023, as part of the PNRR “Band Attractiveness of Villages” of Ministry of Cultureand brought great voices of music, theater and Italian culture to the village such as Neri Marcorè, Paolo Fresu and Daniele Di Bonaventura, Carmen Consoli and the La Corelli Orchestra.
In the following seasons the billboard continued to attract prominent protagonists — from Max Gazzè to the duo Colapesce Dimartino, from the Puccini Festival Orchestra of Torre del Lago to Noemi, Violante Placido and the Barocchisti conducted by Diego Fasolis.
A path that has transformed Varzi into a true art village and which, as summarized by the organization itself, “with over four thousand attendances and a strong involvement of citizens” has made the Festival “a virtuous example of cultural and social regeneration” since its debut.
With 2026 that path finds its most tangible fulfillment: the Festival born within the village regeneration project arrives on the stage of the new cultural hub created with PNRR funds at the Casa dei Servizi “Giovanni Azzaretti” — an investment that becomes a living space, returned to the community as a permanent home of the culture of the mountain Oltrepò.
The program: five thematic days at the Azzaretti Auditorium
The 2026 edition chooses the formula of the progressive cultural path: five days, each dedicated to a different but complementary theme, to compose a mosaic of languages capable of speaking to different audiences.
Wednesday 2 September – 8.30 pm | Italian musical memory. The inauguration is entrusted to the artist Marco Lodolainterviewed by Patrick Ray Pugliese. Following, the concert “Guarda che luna, senti che swing” with I Briganti dello Swing, a project by saxophonist Andres Villani: a journey into Italian swing, from Natalino Otto to the modern contaminations of Sergio Caputo, between live music, narration and dissemination.
Thursday 3 September – 9.00 pm | Literature and civil theatre. The book “InterNati. L’interism between philosophy of life and wonderful illness” (Rizzoli) by Mam Gagliani and Cecio Bonomo is presented. To follow, Enrico Bertolino brings to the stage an unmissable show with music by Tiziano Cannas Aghedu, Roberto di Bitonto and Raffaele Kohler, video by Enrico Bettella and directed by Massimo Navone.
Friday 4 September – 9.30 pm | Great pop music. On stage Marina Rei in concert with a show in which he alternates his voice with percussion, retracing over thirty years of his career.
Saturday 5 September — Cinema and memory, and great classical music. At 5.30 pm the screening of the animated short film “Il Tesoro di Raffadali” by Elena Bortolotto, Anna Dondi, Manuela Lionti and Francesca Re, graduates of the Civic School of Cinema Luchino Visconti of Milan, and of the docufilm “Tua Madre” – Leonardo Malaguti’s first feature film (2025), written with Margherita Arioli, with the protagonist Dania Rendano – with an open dialogue with directors, performers and authors. At 9.30pm, the concert by The Soloists of Pavia: Vivaldi man and musician. A concert/reading dedicated to the most human aspects and the rarest music of the great composer.
Sunday 6 September — The courage of women. At 6.00 pm a meeting dedicated to contemporary photography with the curator Denis Curti — among the leading figures of photography in Italy, artistic director of “Le Stanze della Fotografia” in Venice — and with Manila Alfano, director of La Provincia Pavese. Closing is at 9.30pm Franco Parenti Theatre of Milan with “Terzo Tempo”, a tender and ironic comedy directed by Emanuela Giordano, based on the novel of the same name by Lidia Ravera. The protagonists on stage are the champions of comic theatre Lucia Vasini And Paolo Hendelwho play a couple in their sixties grappling with the meaning and possibilities of aging.
The voices of the protagonists and the vision of the territory
The artist Marco Lodola, honorary president of the Varzi Arte association, underlines the increasingly important role that the Festival is taking on in the national panorama and makes a suggestion: “The Varzi festival, now in its fourth edition, is increasingly a recurring and highly anticipated event. I think that in a while we will come to remember Varzi, not only for the inimitable salami, but also for its famous festival!”
Mayor Palli echoes this: «The Varzi Festival is now a recurring and eagerly awaited event at the end of the summer, not only for Varzi but for the entire Oltrepò Pavese – he declares Giovanni PalliMayor of Varzi —. In just a few years we have built, edition after edition, a project that has brought great protagonists of music, theater and culture to our village, and which today is part of the identity of our community. The 2026 edition is perhaps the most eclectic ever: swing, pop and classical, literature, theatre, cinema and photography meet and contaminate each other, to unite different generations and audiences. And this year the Festival is experiencing a historic transition: for the first time its main stage will be the new cultural hub created with PNRR funds, a space born from the regeneration of our village which we are returning to the community as the home of the culture of Varzi and the Oltrepò. I thank the Monte di Lombardia Foundation led with great vision by Prof Mario Cera and the Lombardy Region, alongside the City of Varzi and VarziArte: it is thanks to this alliance that culture becomes a concrete engine of growth for our territory.»
A vision that looks beyond the stage. “The Varzi Festival” is not just a program of shows, but a project for the cultural, social and economic development of the area, which continues throughout the year with training activities, workshops aimed at children, adolescents, adults and vulnerable categories, and collaborations with schools. The objective is to consolidate Varzi as a driving force for the cultural life of the Oltrepò Pavese and as a point of reference for theLombard Apenninesthrough a network of collaborations between administrations, cultural bodies, foundations, businesses and citizens. In this direction, the strategic alliance with the Monte di Lombardia Foundation – active since 1992 to support the social, cultural and economic development of Lombardy communities – and the contribution of the Lombardy Region represent the pillar of a model that puts culture at the center of the development of the communities of the Lombardy Apennines.
“From 2 to 6 September Varzi will host “Il Varzi Festival” five days in which music, theatre, cinema, literature and photography will meet, with artists and cultural realities of national importance – declares the President of Varzi Arte Anna Franzosi – Our objective is to give continuity to a cultural path that grows and consolidates over time, enriching itself in the quality of the proposal and in the ability to involve increasingly different audiences and that each event also becomes an opportunity to raise awareness of Varzi and the Oltrepò, its places, its identity and its community. In fact, we believe that the real challenge is not just managing to create a good Festival, but giving it continuity over time. Territories like ours need cultural initiatives capable of growing year after year, creating relationships, attracting new visitors and becoming recognizable events. Culture can be an important tool for the promotion and development of the territory, but to produce results it needs planning, collaboration and above all continuity. Our goal is precisely this: to ensure that the Varzi Festival increasingly becomes an eagerly awaited event, capable of bringing people to Varzi and, through Varzi, making them discover the entire Oltrepò Pavese.”
SERVICE INFORMATION
The Varzi Festival 2026
When: 2–6 September 2026
Where: Auditorium G. Azzaretti – new cultural hub financed by the PNRR, Varzi (Oltrepò Pavese)
Admission: free while seats last. Info and programme: www.varziarte.it
