14-17 May Mittelyoung / 16-26 July Mittelfest
Cividale del Friuli
Direzione artistica Giacomo Pedini
At its xxxv edition, Mittelfest, with the theme PAURA (FEAR), challenges our instinct for control, probing the depths and mysteries of human nature, ancient narratives and contemporary scenarios, opening up possibilities for the unexpected.
Mittelfest 16-26 July: The festival presents 32 artistic projects from 16 countries, including 20 world or Italian premieres, with reinterpretations of classics that explore their hidden depths; untold stories and lost pieces of history, blending genres and languages, and bringing together renowned artists and emerging talents. The focus on the audience of tomorrow remains constant through the family project.
Mittelyoung 14-17 May: A unique event in Europe, staging 9 selected performances of prose, dance, music and circus from under-30 Mitteleuropa, thus giving substantial support to young people, chosen by other young people.
The past teaches us that the future is unpredictable, whilst the present is a source of growing concern. Against this backdrop, the mind acts as our guiding force, striving to reduce the unknown to the known, in an attempt to free us from the fear of what we do not know and what lies beyond our control. But what if, instead, we dared to look deep into the darkness? This is the starting point for an exploration of the theme of PAURA (FEAR), giving life to the XXXV edition of Mittelfest – a leading multidisciplinary festival of theatre, music, dance and circus for the countries of Central Europe and the Balkans, based in Cividale del Friuli.
This is how Mittelfest Artistic Director, Giacomo Pedini, explains the theme that inspired him for the programme: “Fear is all in the expectations, in what we imagine it will be. Fear is the primary emotion that anticipates events, it does not follow them. It is already there. It arrives and points the way. Yet, while it predicts succumbing to every fatal challenge, it prevents the outcome. All you have to do is go beyond what your eyes believe. Because sight is often deceiving: it does not notice what is in front of it, but what the mind already expects. The gaze, it is said, only registers differences. If the fear that lurks in our thoughts were overcome by our actions, some miracle might reveal itself. Instead of running away from it, why not follow every fear wherever it leads us? Why not accept its adventures?”.
The two international festivals are staged respectively from 14 to 17 May, Mittelyoung, and from 16 to 26 July, Mittelfest, while throughout the year Mittelfest goes on under the name of Mittelland, with events that give continuity to the festival and identify it as a bridge between European collaborations and local realities.
In numbers, the two festivals will stage a total of 41 titles, involving artists from 21 different countries in Central Europe, the Balkans and neighbouring countries, and from other countries around the world (Italy, Netherlands, France, Poland, Germany, Argentina, Croatia, South Africa, North Macedonia, Portugal, Norway, Serbia, Hungary, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovenia, Switzerland).
MITTELFEST 16-26 July.
Programme
The 2026 edition of Mittelfest, the last of Artistic Director Giacomo Pedini’s tenure, will see the official ribbon cut on Saturday 18 July at the Church of San Francesco.
The curtain will rise as early as 16 July with a variety of events, including the traditional Adelaide Ristori Prize, established in memory of the actress from Cividale, which every year honours leading figures of the national scene.
Among the major events on the programme, a highlight is Una Traviata da Cortile (A Courtyard Traviata) on Monday 20 July: a reinterpretation of Verdi’s La Traviata – itself based on the Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas fils – in a popular adaptation, written and performed by Alessandro Baricco, at Azienda Zorzettig, followed by a tasting of Friulian food and wine. Era di maggio (It was May) takes to the stage on Saturday 25 July as Mittelfest tribute to the 50th anniversary of the earthquake in Friuli: a work by Flavio Santi with music by Orchestra Corelli, which brings together, for the first time, folk traditions surrounding the ‘Orcolat’ with historical accounts, featuring a powerful performance by Alessio Boni. Esploratori o geografi? Due visioni per comprendere il mondo (Explorers or geographers? Two perspectives on understanding the world), on 26 July, is another premiere, produced by 5th Element in collaboration with Mittelfest and Ravenna Festival: taking Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince as its starting point, it presents various perspectives on the perception of reality: from that of explorer Alex Bellini, accompanied by music by Luca Lagash of Marlene Kuntz, to the virtual perspective of artificial intelligence. But let’s also mention a free event that Mittelfest offers to its audience in Piazza Duomo (like the two previous events), which is a preview from Hungary: Mozzafiato! (Don’t forget to breath!) by Sophie Zoletnik and Lennart Paar, in which two circus performers breathe and move beneath a geodesic dome, transforming the rhythm of breath itself into movement and fear into confidence.
But the entire Mittelfest 2026 programme is packed with original performances.
The Theatre programme features a number of new productions, with many big names from the Italian theatre scene.
The programme opens with Lo strano caso del dottor Jeckyl e del Signor Hyde (Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) (16–18 July), directed by Fabio Condemi and starring Cristian La Rosa, with dramaturgy by Federico Bellini and dramaturgy of images by Fabio Cherstich. A world premiere retelling the story of Mr Hyde, who represents the physicality, desire and transgression that Jekyll conceals beneath a life devoted to reason, revealing the two sides of us all.
Another debut is Bébi. Il primo amore (Bébi. First love), adapted from the novel of the same name by Sándor Márai, starring Andrea Bosca and directed by Giacomo Pedini, which goes on stage on 18 July as a co-production between Mittelfest and Bam Teatro. The story centres on an anonymous middle-aged teacher and two of his pupils: Madár, a brilliant yet restless boy from the slums, and Bébi, a girl from a privileged background.
Jeton and Blerta Neziraj, the former a writer and the latter a director at Qendra Multimedia, return to Mittelfest on 19 July with a new and much-needed international co-production (Kosovo, South Africa, North Macedonia, Italy, Portugal, Norway, France)- another premiere – on the theme of reconciliation: Chi perdona (Who forgives. Under the shade of a tree I sat and wept), a production that invites reflection on forgiveness as a means of social healing, drawing from the events that saw, in 1990 in Kosovo and in 1995 in South Africa, the establishment of public forums to reconcile long-standing feuds and overcome apartheid.
On 22 July, the Croatian production Son, Mother and Father sit at a table in silence arrives – an Italian premiere by Ivor Martinić and Aleksandar Švabić, from ZKM Theatre, which confronts us with a sharp question: if you could only keep one of your children alive, which one would it be?
Then, on 23 and 24 July, the programme continues with Una madre coraggio (A mother courage), a reworking of Bertolt Brecht’s play by Michele Santeramo, presented as a monologue for a great performer such as Laura Marinoni, directed by Gianluca Barbidori, to establish a direct connection with the audience, who will feel as though they are meeting the real Anna Fierling, Brecht’s “Mother Courage”, with her provocative, ironic, tender tone. Another world premiere.
La strage di Vergarolla (Vergarola explosion), on 24 July, is a preview production by Teatro Rossetti, Stabile del Friuli Venezia Giulia, written by Paolo Valerio and historian Davide Rossi, and directed by Paolo Valerio himself. Eighty years on, one of the most tragic and forgotten chapters of 20th-century Italy is brought to the surface: the explosion on 18 August 1946, on Vergarola beach in Pula, which claimed the lives of around a hundred civilians, including many children.
The theatre programme concludes with another production making its world premiere at Mittelfest: John and Joe by Ágota Kristóf, starring Manuela Mandracchia and Alvia Reale, on stage on 26 July, the final day of the festival. The story highlights and ridicules the price of dreams in the age of capitalism, when the friendship between two women, on the fringes of a ruthless society, is put to the test by a lottery ticket, in a mix of claustrophobia and comedy.
Turning to music, the 2026 edition of Mittelfest is dominated by folk, dance and ethno-folk rhythms.
The world music programmeopens on 17 July with Hold your horses, a show from the Netherlands by De Dansers,twelve hands grasping, striking, probing, riding and plucking guitar strings, in a dance concert that blends music and movement. This is followed on the same day by From fear to light: Vasko Vassilev, a Bulgarian artist and concertmaster of the Royal Opera House, is set to take Mittelfest by storm with the explosive quintet of the Covent Garden Soloists, through a repertoire that transcends genre boundaries, from Vivaldi to Brahms, from the Balkan tradition to tango.
On 19 July, in an Italian premiere, Lumen, by Dagadana, offers a fusion concert blending Polish and Ukrainian music, with ethnic, pop and rock rythms, in a mix of ancient Slavic ritual songs for good fortune, which serve as the starting point for a joyful journey.
The line-up remains strong on 22 July with Prikezhia, performed by the Hungarians Romano Drom, the wildest Gipsy-Vlach ensemble in Central Europe, telling tales of an urban folklore to Mittelfest for their Italian premiere.
Then, on 23 July, the original show La caccia (The Hunt) makes its world premiere: a blend of music and neuroscience in which cellist Jorge Giménez and pianist Matteo Bevilacqua challenge and chase one another in a musical hunt through the works of Beethoven, Mendelssohn and some famous film scores, whilst their emotional states, monitored by a neural headset, are transformed into visual art.
On 24 July, the Serbian band Alice in WonderBand will present their new album The courage to be afraid, in its Italian premiere; the Serbian duo blends world music and body percussion.
The final two events in this programme are Fos, a Greek show making its world premiere by the award-winning singer Erini, scheduled for 25 July, commemorating the Greek exodus from Asia Minor in 1923, and Disorienti, on 26 July, in which Anaïs Drago‘s violin meets Peppe Frana‘s oud, and Asian tradition meets jazz, in an original yet unexpected musical journey.
Classical music.
The highlight of this year’s classical music programme will take place on 24 July with a concert by FVG Orchestra entitled Il demoniaco (The demonic). A journey into the dark side of music, blending virtuosity and restlessness, bringing together pianist Gabriele Strata and violinist Christian Sebastianutto, along with FVG Orchestra conducted by Paolo Paroni, as they explore Liszt, Tartini, Strauss, treading the fine line of fear.
The musical programme closes with world premieres by the conservatories: on 20 July, Conservatorio Tartini with Chi ha paura del lupo cattivo? (Who is afraid of the big bad wolf?), and on 21 July, Façade. Un intrattenimento in musica (Façade. An Entertainment), a musical performance by Conservatorio Tomadini.
This leads to the Dance programme.
Scheduled for 21 July, Dialogues in the dream is a new production by the Franco-Hungarian dancer Josef Nadj, who also choreographed the show alongside Ivan Fatjo, set to music by John Cage. Dance, music and performance blend together, drawing inspirations from the writings of the Zen master Musō and the Hungarian poet Dezső Tandori.
On the second Saturday of the festival, 25 July, Mittelfest will host Marco D’Agostin’s Best Regards, a secular, pop-inspired tribute to Nigel Charnock, the dancer and choreographer who passed away in 2012: a letter to someone who will never reply, yet one that speaks to us all, for those times when we did not arrive in time to say what we wanted to say.
From Friuli arrives the last day, 26 July 8. Otto archi, otto corpi (8. Eight strings, eight bodies), a world premiere by Arearea with Fondazione Bon, conceived and directed by Roberto Cocconi to music by Michael Gordon. On stage, eight cellos form an octagon, with eight dancers at the centre.
Finally, the latest dance proposal, Pop by Nicola Galli, scheduled for 26 July, takes us to the Family Project. An interactive show for children and families that uses play to explore the body’s many motor possibilities.
Moving on with the Family Project.
On 17 July, Les bleus de travail by 3Clowns, a Franco-Polish group composed of Laurent Barboux, Lionel Becimol, Alexandre Demay, takes us on a comical yet brutal journey in which the clown’s craft is explored. On 19 July, Tuba by the German-Argentine clowns company Expectativa Zero , created by Martin Orchessi – who also performs alongside Maria Jose Ferronato – premieres a clown-led tuba concert that celebrates failure, transforming every mistake into a new creative opportunity.
On 25 July, the Family Project closes with Alice in WonderBand‘s workshop and La musica dei balocchi (The music of toys) by Anais Drago and Saba Salvemini, a journey into the world of Pinocchio where music takes the form of an orchestra of thunder, a choir of carpenters and an ensemble of donkeys.
Mittelfest 2026 programme is rounded off by circus performances.
On 23 July , Coppélia, Un ballet mécanique, by the Italian company Blucinque, conceived and directed by Caterina Mochi Sismondi, will take centre stage. It explores the theme of identity and the body through a female figure who is fragile yet, at the same time, ironic and powerful, inspired by Fernand Léger’s Cubist film Ballet Mécanique (1924). Finally, on 25-26 July, Symbiosis, the German Kolja Huneck and the Dutch Luuk Branjes. A major production, involving collaborations between various cultural organisations, in which dream and reality intermingle, creating a surreal universe, where the artists explore the relationship between human beings and the natural environment.
Furthermore, Mittelfest hosts the 3 shows selected from Mittelyoung and many side events. These include the Adelaide Ristori Prize (16 July), the Italy-Serbia forum, a number of ‘Kaffee’ with artists and Mittelimmagine shorts films. And this year again MitteLounge from 21 to 23 July: music and aperitifs at sunset in the marquee in the Ursulines’ Garden, with local bands.
MITTELYOUNG 14-17 May
Since its inception 6 years ago, Mitteyoung, Mitteleuropa under-30 festival, is one of the most original features that Mittelfest brings to the panorama of Italian and European festivals, to give audiences the chance to see a generation on stage and, at the same time, to give actual production support to young people.
9 shows by artists under 30 have been chosen by curators under 30 and will land at Mittelyoung 2026, including music, theatre, dance and circus, from 7 countries (Italy, Latvia, Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Slovenia) after an open call that attracted 238 applications from 28 countries.
The prize awarded by a jury of experts, called upon to evaluate and endorse Mittelyoung’s most interesting proposals, is confirmed for 2026, with jurors Riccardo Ventrella of Teatro della Pergola, Francesca Di Fazio, junior artistic director of ERT Fondazione, and critic and scholar Roberto Canziani.
Programme:
Mittelyoung is being held from 14 to 17 May 2026 in the Church of Santa Maria dei Battuti in Cividale with the following programme.
14 May begins with Felix Chang‘s dance performance Wújìn 無盡 , the Chinese title draws on Taoist philosophy and means ‘endless’. It explores the concept of infinity in lofty and evocative terms. Drawing on the physical practices of Taiwanese temple culture, Felix Chang and Gabriella Lemma invite the audience to a ceremony of ‘attention’. The first day concludes with a concert by the Slovenian group Duplina, Nove stare zgodbe, ‘new old stories’, which explores the allure of oral tradition and folk music from the Slovenian and German cultural heritage.
On 15 May, the curtain opens with the circus show Chuck my life by Czech artist Arman Kupelyan. Chuck struggles with all his might against the demands of everyday life, but he does so through butoh, the famous Japanese dance, in a clown-inspired version and with an irrepressible passion for inflatable balloons. On Friday, the first Italian show will take to the stage: Divanoproject‘s theatrical production Un live podcast (A live podcast), already a winner of Teatrinscena competition. Four young people have to produce a podcast as part of a competition for new talent. One of them recounts an incident that actually happened to him, but refuses to alter the story to make it more compelling. The show also marks the renewed collaboration between Mittefest and RAI Radio3 for Futuro presente.
On 16 May, the day begins with the Swiss Dance piece Adam’s Apple by Company Creama, a humorous performance that explores the sense of shame women feel about their bodies and identities. An invitation to embrace and accept oneself.
On the same day, there will be a musical performance by I Tre Moschettieri cello quartet, an Italian ensemble presenting Akylas – ex opsesos. A concert taking place in total darkness, where the hall, devoid of visual cues, becomes Perseus’ labyrinth, and where a cello quartet guides us through the landscapes of fear, from Haydn to Schumann, via Bach, Schubert and Tchaikovsky. The programme concludes with the Bulgarian theatrical production Insert coin / player one by Karakashyan & Artists, a captivating show that explores the boundaries between the real world and the virtual world, in which the audience becomes an active player in a live video game that addresses the themes of identity, desire and control.
Finally, on 17 May, Annie Wicca‘s Latvian music will be on stage, in the show A song is a map, a concert that explores fear as a threshold, as that emotion that precedes action, desire and transformation, where each track corresponds to a phase of the moon and represents a different nuance of fear. The festival will close with Rachele Ferraro‘s circus show Breath, a journey through theatre, juggling and contemporary dance, exploring the fear of suffocation. From drowning to a liberating breath, from suffering to poetry. The under-30 festival will conclude, as always, with the awards ceremony and the selection of the three shows to be featured in the main festival.
The 2026 edition of Mittelfest marks the conclusion of the two tenures of Artistic Director Giacomo Pedini (2021-2023, 2024-2026): his forward-looking vision has helped to strengthen Mittelfest’s identity, whilst also introducing new elements that have proved to be part of a successful formula in terms of audience engagement and international relations. These include, among others, the circus, the under-30 festival Mittelyoung, a new capacity not only to produce shows, but also to keep them alive by distributing them on the national and international scene, new European partnerships, and the new Mittelbabel digital archive. Since 2024, Mittelfest has also played a key role in GO! 2025 – Nova Gorica and Gorizia European Capital of Culture, with a major multidisciplinary project and three theatre productions. The latest, L’alba dopo la fine della Storia (Dawn after the end of history), will tour Italy and Croatia in October and November 2026.
UFFICIO STAMPA MITTELFEST
Nazionale/ Internazionale Giulia Calligaro giulia.calligaro4@gmail.com 0039.349.6095623
Macroregionale Francesca Gatti: f.gatti@reportagepr.com, 0039.347.9854644
Generale: ufficiostampa@mittelfest.org
