Trame Festival - 15th edition - Land and Freedom

Founded in 2011 in Lamezia Terme, a strategic yet complex territory in Calabria, "Trame" is the first Italian festival dedicated to investigative literature and anti-mafia culture. The 2026 edition marks a historic milestone as it celebrates fifteen years of uninterrupted activity, serving as a national lighthouse for legality and civil engagement. 

Over three lustrums, Trame has evolved from a local event into a collective heritage, a family of associations, activists, and citizens who believe that culture is the most effective tool for social transformation and liberation from criminal powers. The title of this anniversary edition, "Land and Freedom" (Terra e Libertà), draws inspiration from Ken Loach’s 1995 film and encapsulates the essence of the festival’s fifteen-year journey. The theme explores the land as a space of belonging and rights, but also as a site of conflict, oppression, and resistance. In a time when criminal phenomena are re-emerging to threaten self-determination and the future, Trame 2026 addresses the deep connection between mafias, territories, and freedom. The program focuses on the modern forms of criminal control over labour and the legal economy, the vital defence of free enterprise, and the global crises where great powers exploit defenceless civilians, denying them their land and dignity. The festival also places a significant emphasis on the power of information. It explores investigative journalism, the protection of press freedom, and new contemporary narratives as essential weapons against systemic oppression. 

For six days, from June 16 to 21, Lamezia Terme becomes a widespread stage where the written word meets a multitude of contemporary languages. The program alternates between literary encounters with authors, journalists, and magistrates, and the integration of podcasts, documentaries, and films to describe reality from multiple perspectives. Theatre plays, photographic exhibitions, and musical events weave together memory and social commitment, while special initiatives dedicated to World Refugee Day emphasise the festival’s role as a guardian of universal rights. 

Trame is a cultural garrison rooted in the squares of the city and in the hearts of its community. A key pillar of its identity is the "Laboratorio di Cittadinanza", which involves over one hundred young volunteers who manage the festival’s life, demonstrating that active engagement is the true alternative to criminal gravity. For fifteen years, the festival has stood by the families of mafia victims, remaining "always on the same side". 

Supported by regional public funding and recognised as a "City that Reads", Trame has become an institutional hub of excellence. Its longevity and its ability to innovate while remaining faithful to its roots make it a unique model in the European festival landscape. In the words of President Nuccio Iovene and Artistic Director Giovanni Tizian, this fifteenth edition is both a time for balance and a relaunch. It is a traguardo that marks three lustres of a festival that has become a point of reference for an entire community. "Land and Freedom" is a call to action, proving that where there is culture, there is no room for the mafia. Trame continues to demonstrate that knowledge is the foundation of freedom, transforming the memory of the past into a project for a legal and democratic future. By promoting the rule of law and human rights, the festival aligns perfectly with European values, speaking from the deep Mediterranean to the heart of the entire continent.