Agrigento 2025: Falcone and Borsellino open the Summer of Culture

The summer of Agrigento Italian Capital of Culture for 2025 begins on June 21 at the Teatro Pirandello where the exhibition “ The legacy of judges Falcone and Borsellino ” will be inaugurated, curated by Franco Nuccio and Francesco Nicastro. Documents, private letters, unpublished photographs and the reproduction of Borsellino's famous red diary tell the story of the courage of two magistrates who have become a global symbol of the fight against the mafia . The itinerary ends with the Treccani project dedicated to Rosario Livatino, the “boy judge” murdered in 1990. An interactive section explains to visitors how the fight against racketeering and corruption works today, with insights into new fronts of digital crime. But Saturday 21 June is also the day of the summer solstice and the thirty-first European Music Festival: the Valley of the Temples will host in front of the Temple of Concordia, the concert of Mario Biondi accompanied by the symphony and jazz orchestra of the Arturo Toscanini Conservatory of Ribera, conducted by Walter Attanasi , an orchestra that represented Italy as Afam excellence at the Expo in Osaka, Japan. And again, the Ribera Conservatory is promoting, on Sunday (22 June) at the Teatro Panoramica dei Templi, The Guitars and drums night, a great rock and contemporary concert dedicated to young people from Italian, European and non-European conservatories to celebrate Agrigento as the Italian Capital of Culture.

On July 7, the Cherubini Youth Orchestra led by Riccardo Muti will play in front of the Temple of Concordia. The maestro did not hide his emotion: “Here, music meets history in an embrace that has no boundaries”. A few days later, the performance of the six hundred choristers of the Sistine Pontifical Musical Chapel will follow, an event that brings together voices from all the parishes of Agrigento. The European Music Festival will bring Mario Biondi in a duet with the symphony and jazz orchestra of the Toscanini Conservatory of Ribera, while FestiValle, from August 7 to 10, will mix Vinicio Capossela , The Cinematic Orchestra, Carl Craig and Vulfpeck, building a sound bridge between blues, electronics and funk. The Moviti Fest will transform alleys and squares into arenas of creativity. Young people from the Fontanelle and Villaseta neighborhoods will run street art workshops, musical contests, book presentations and storytellers' tales in dialect. The artistic lighting of Porta di Ponte, designed by lighting architect Mario Nanni, will create night-time scenography that will guide citizens and tourists along a path of multimedia installations to the Duomo. Theatrical visits to the Teatro Pirandello will introduce the space and secret stories of the hall, thanks to a cast of local actors who will reveal behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

The “sister” island that inspired part of the candidacy dossier could not be missed. Lampedus'Amore , a journalism award founded after the death of Bartolo Bellavia, will tell stories of migration with an international podcast competition. A coastal path dedicated to the Caretta caretta turtle will also be created on the island, made with walkways in reclaimed wood and Braille panels. In this way, Sicilian identity, biodiversity and hospitality find a concrete meeting point. Local operators will sign a green pact: those who join commit to reducing single-use plastic by 50 percent and to offering guided excursions only on electric-powered boats. A choice that aims to protect the crystalline waters of Cala Pulcino and Isola dei Conigli.

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