Sardinia surprises with its literary festivals
A series of high-profile cultural events held throughout the year enthuses the Sardinian public and communities
A fascinating cross section of Sardinia, reflected in literary events with dates sprinkled across spring, summer and autumn. Unmissable occasions that will go with relaxation during a holiday spent on the coast or inland. The Island of Stories Festival (Isola delle storie) in Gavoi in the Nuorese area is the standard banner for the festivals, Since 2004 writers, actors, journalists, musicians and thousands of avid readers have met up in the weekend of the beginning of July. They are drawn by the warm welcome given by the people of Gavoi, who are happy to share their traditions and their good life with them. Houses are opened up to guests, and the colourful wooden balconies of the stone dwellings become stages for reading stories and accounts, while the piazzas are arenas for the audience. Its prestige has done nothing but grow over its editions, and it is now a point of reference at a national and international level, together with other Sardinian literary festivals like La Notte dei Poeti, Éntula, Licanìas and Marina Café Noir.
At Gavoi, in the heart of the Gennargentu park, you get the feeling of having entered a fairy-tale village. It is an unspoilt picture, and an unusual one where the silence is a pleasurable fellow traveller amongst the narrow, windy cobbled streets and welcoming piazzas. You won’t be just a spectator: you will meet and talk with the authors, you will take part in participatory shows and art exhibitions. Your weekend will be spent between a series of events and emotions. In the Isola delle storie, adults, teenagers and children let themselves be transported by words and imagination, by tales of life and opera songs, read by the authors themselves. Voices, music and readings echo around the historic centre, while the faces and looks in the guests’ eyes, immortalised on the street walls and engrossed in traditional activities, welcome the public.
The inaugural event, on the evening of Thursday 4 July, present a musical ‘bridge’ between Sardinia and Iceland, set to the notes of Björk. Meetings, readings and shows begin on Friday the 4th and last until Sunday the 6th. The first event of the morning includes readings ‘from the balcony’, a privileged place for listening to and narration by female voices. The day carries on until dusk: the colours of the landscape change and the atmosphere becomes increasingly friendly and engaging. Piazza Sant’Antiocu hosts ‘Mezzogiorno di Fuoco’ (High Noon) with celebrity guests. In the afternoon, there will be readings in the communal garden and the ‘Altre Prospettive’ (Other Perspectives) cycle will be held in Piazza Mesu Bidda. Saturday evening features an unmissable highlight: Mirto con l’Autore (Mirto with the Author). Completing the programme, there are exhibitions, workshops and music. This year, the 'Tributes' are dedicated to figures linked to Memory and the Resistance.
The Licanìas festival in Neoneli, a village famous for its polyphonic choir, will take place two weeks before the event in Gavoi and then the literary festivals continue through summer and autumn. Across July there is the rich programme of a great event: the 43rd edition of the La Notte dei Poeti – the Night of Poets. The stage is set in a magical landscape: between the isthmus of capo Pula, the beach with the little church of Sant'Efisio and the ruins of the ancient Phoenician and Punic city of Nora. Poetry and fiction accompany theatrical, musical and dance performances, with great national and international authors.
At the beginning of August in Jerzu and Ulassai, in the heart of Ogliastra, there is the Festival dei Tacchi theatre festival, this year focused on the theme of wonder. Between the end of the same month and the beginning of September, Seneghe, a village in the Montiferru, from 'oil village' becomes a centre for poetry with the 21st edition of the Cabudanne de sos poetas, a concentrate of art and authenticity. Cagliari and its surroundings feature twice: with the ‘historic’ Marina Café Noir, one of the most popular cultural events in the city, brought forward to June for its 23rd edition this year; and with a highly anticipated event for younger audiences, Tuttestorie, which, as every year, takes place in October.
