The Dove ci conduce questo suono – Cesenatico Poesia Festival returns from June 24 to June 27, 2026, transforming waterfront corners and historic interiors into stages for spoken word, music and participatory activities. Conceived and directed by Valerio Grutt, the festival stages daytime readings, evening performances and daytime workshops that invite both residents and visitors to listen, move and engage. Events are concentrated around Casa Moretti and the Porto Canale, creating a compact map of experiences that is easy to reach on foot and ideal for a cultural weekend by the sea.
This edition mixes Italian and European poets with musicians and collectives, aiming to build an attentive public space where poetry meets sound and community. All programmed activities are free to attend and normally do not require prior booking; in case of adverse weather, outdoor sessions will be moved to the Galleria Comunale Leonardo Da Vinci. Practical details and schedules are available in the official program, but spontaneous attendance is encouraged for most events.
Opening night and the nightly serenades
The festival opens on Wednesday 24 June at 18:30 in the garden of Casa Moretti with the inaugural event titled “Tutto ciò che amai“—a staged “sbarco dei poeti” that includes institutional welcomes and the first round of readings. Featured readers for the launch are Annalisa Teodorani, Ennio Cavalli, Sabrina Foschini and Francesca Serragnoli, followed by a light reception. Later that evening the program debuts the nocturnal series called the “Serenata delle zanzare”: at 21:00 Antonella Bukovaz performs with musical support from Stefano Fariselli, blending spoken text with live sound to set the tone for the nights ahead.
Readings on the water and featured poets
On Thursday 25 and Friday 26 June at 18:30 the festival moves onto a historic boat moored along the channel for the series “Dalla sorgente a perdersi nel mare“—a sequence of readings accompanied by musicians that foregrounds the relationship between text and maritime space. The 25 June roster pairs Franca Mancinelli, Clery Celeste, Vanni Schiavoni and Sabrina Tolve with music by Matilde Melucci. The following day features Silvia Atzori, Marco Carretta, Francesca Basso and Mario Giampaolo with Giada Rizqallah on strings. Each night also reprises a Serenata delle zanzare at 21:00, bringing Milo De Angelis to the garden on the 25th and the Polish poet Tomasz Różycki on the 26th, the latter in dialogue with Rizqallah’s violin.
Workshops, the roundtable and the closing marathon
The final day, Saturday 27 June, emphasizes active participation. From 10:00 to 13:00 IPLab, the mirror-workshop curated by Interno Poesia, offers space for participants to work on texts they submitted in advance; simultaneously, the site-specific project “Oggetti che tornano” by the collectives Sincronie and La Lenza stages interventions across Casa Moretti. Both projects are free and open to the public, with access on a first-come basis at the entrance on the theater side of Casa Moretti. In the afternoon at 15:00 a roundtable titled “Dove vado? Non so – Le nuove forme della poesia e le sue strade” gathers voices to discuss contemporary poetic practices and trajectories.
The festival concludes in the evening with a community reading marathon in Piazza Spose dei Marinai starting at 20:30, billed as “L’eco di un canto, di più canti” and featuring many of the participating authors. At 21:00 the program closes with a special Letteraturap/TALK performance by Murubutu, a project that probes the boundaries between literature, rap and contemporary music, offering a performative synthesis of spoken word and beats.
Practical notes for visitors
Admission to readings, concerts and workshops is generally free and does not require registration; however, some activities such as IPLab and the site-specific interventions may have limited seating and operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Events are concentrated within a short walking radius of Casa Moretti and the Porto Canale, making it straightforward to move between sessions. If weather forces a change, outdoor events will be relocated to the Galleria Comunale Leonardo Da Vinci, where the program originally scheduled outside will continue indoors.
What the festival aims to offer
The second edition of this festival aims to create a porous listening environment where generations and geographies meet: established figures and younger poets share the same program, music frames spoken word, and collective practices invite audience participation. Whether you arrive for a single evening or plan to attend multiple days, expect a blend of staged readings, improvised musical dialogues and hands-on workshops designed to open conversations about how poetry circulates in contemporary public life.
