For three days Sammichele di Bari will become the meeting point for the Borghi più belli d’Italia: from September 4 to 6, 2026 the municipality in the province of Bari will host, in fact, the XVIII edition of the Festival Nazionale de “I Borghi più belli d’Italia”, the annual gathering that brings together administrators, delegations and representatives of the municipalities belonging to the network, from all parts of the country.
The event represents an important opportunity for exchange among different territories, united by the will to enhance the patrimony and the identity of Italy’s small towns. During the festival, experiences, projects and reflections on the challenges that today concern the villages will be presented, without forgetting their ability to safeguard history, culture, landscapes, traditions and local productions.
Three days to tell the present and the future of the small centers
The Festival will be, above all, a moment of discussion on the role that the villages can play in contemporary Italy, places rich in identity and heritage, but also communities called to face increasingly important issues, from environmental protection to sustainability, from innovation to the need to create new opportunities for development and attractiveness.
The objective will thus be to connect diverse experiences and provide a space for dialogue between institutions, administrators, professionals and realities committed to valuing the territories. In parallel, the public will have the chance to get to know the peculiarities of Italy’s villages more closely and discover a diffuse patrimony that finds in small centers a fundamental part of the country’s identity.
To open the Festival, on Friday, September 4: the welcoming of the delegations is scheduled for 16:00, while at 18:00 the inaugural ceremony will take place with the institutional greetings of Fiorello Primi, President of the Association “I Borghi più belli d’Italia,” of the mayor of Sammichele di Bari Lorenzo Netti and of the regional Councillor for Agriculture and Rural Development of the Puglia Region Francesco Paolicelli, together with the other national, regional and local authorities present. The first day will end with the concert of the Bari Metropolitan City Symphony Orchestra.
Saturday, September 5 the program will come to life from 10:00 with the opening of the stands of the Village of the Borghi, a space that will accompany the discovery of the different realities present and that, together with the exhibition area of the MIB – Italian Market of the Borghi and the handicraft market, will remain active for all three days.
At 11:00, at the Church of Maddalena, the conference “The 100 Most Beautiful Roads in Italy,” dedicated to itineraries and new ways of discovering Italy’s small centers with the themes of mobility, tourism and territorial valorization, will take place. Speakers will include Roberto Perticone, President of Italy Discovery, Claudio Bacilieri, Director of Borghi Magazine, Emiliano d’Andrea of Borghi Italia Tour, Lorena Varani of the Ciclovie dei Borghi delle Marche, Antonio Baldelli, Parliamentarian and Deputy Mayor of Pergola, and Domenica Spinelli, Parliamentarian and Deputy Mayor of Coriano. The discussion will also involve Alessandro Musumeci, Marketing Director of FIAT.
Subsequently, at 11:45, the topic of the MIB – Italian Market of the Borghi will be addressed, with remarks from Riccardo Cuomo, Head of the Employment Policies Area and Institutional Projects of Unioncamere, and Gianluca Raspa, executive of BMTI – Borsa Merci Telematica Italiana. At 12:30 there will be institutional meetings, including that of the Committee engaged in presenting a draft law on the Borghi coordinated among all the Regions of Italy.
The Saturday afternoon will continue at 13:30 with a show cooking while at 16:00 will be the moment of BorgoLab, the panel dedicated to successful experiences that show how small centers can become places of appeal, innovation and development. Among the participants is expected Saverio Mucci, Government Engagement Lead Italy of Mastercard.
The discussion on the future of the villages will continue at 17:30 with an event dedicated to the resilience of communities where will speak Giulio De Rita, President of Censis, and Antonio Forzieri, Director of Cybersecurity Strategy at WINDTRE. Following this, the Artisan Laboratories will offer live demonstrations by artisans.
The evening will then give way to the show “TUTTAPPOST! – Stories of ordinary Italianity,” starring Pinuccio, the stage name of Alessio Giannone. Also on stage will be the International Folklore Group La Pacchianella from Monte Sant’Angelo, one of the oldest Italian folkloric formations and custodian of the Gargano’s popular traditions.
Cinema, books, dance and music for the closing day
Sunday, September 6 will begin at 10:30 with BorgoGrafie, a space dedicated to conversations with authors of books that tell about villages, communities and the stories of the territories.
At 11:30, in the Church of Maddalena, there will be “BorgoVisioni,” a gathering devoted to the role of cinema and theaters in Italy’s small towns and to their value as cultural tools and narratives of the territories. Moderated by Osvaldo Bevilacqua, the conference will feature Luciana Cazzolla, Board Councillor of Apulia Film Commission, Antonio Di Santo, mayor of Opi, and journalist Michele Peragine.
After the 13:30 show cooking, the program will continue with Vincenzo Santoro’s conference-performance “Southern Rhythms. Tradition and modernity in the dances of the South,” accompanied by pizzica and taranta interludes by the Fabulanova Folk Ensemble.
At 19:30 Sammichele di Bari will hand over the baton to the Municipality of Dozza, which will host the 2027 edition of the Festival. The evening will continue at 20:30 with Pino Campagna and the show “Io… Superterrone,” humorously addressing Italian regional customs, languages and identities.
To close the XVIII edition, at 22:00, will be the concert of the Orchestra Popolare della Notte della Taranta, produced in collaboration with the Puglia Region and Puglia Culture – Theatrical Circuit.
