Following the success of its inaugural edition in 2022, which attracted over 10,000 attendees and featured more than 150 free events, ‘Il Mondo Nuovo – Festival per la Città’ is set to return. This independent cultural project, conceived by a group of young people under 30, has transformed Via Col di Lana in the Della Vittoria neighborhood into an open-air urban laboratory where culture, active citizenship, and community converge daily.
Organized by Langshining in collaboration with the historic local venue Vanni, the festival offers a rich and multidisciplinary program of free cultural events accessible to all. Artistic direction is led by Mario Soldaini, who is supported by Vittoria Soldaini, Carolina Eminente, Lorenzo Paruccini, Marco Pandolfi, Alice Ciccarese, Gaia Gervasi, Giulia Domenici Desiderio, Erica Bertoldi, Giulia Carosone, and a creative team entirely composed of individuals under 30.
Having concluded its initial summer phase, the festival will recommence from September 1st to 30th, 2025, operating daily from 5 PM to midnight. The program will feature presentations, meetings, debates, and live music. Each day, Via Col di Lana will become an outdoor stage for: discussions and debates with scholars, authors, artists, journalists, and activists; book presentations; live music concerts spanning jazz, pop, rock, classical, and fusion genres; theatrical performances; and artistic interventions and participatory activities open to students, associations, and citizens.
The September schedule will launch on the 1st with an evening dedicated to Tiziano Terzani, featuring the participation of his wife, Angela, and his daughter, Saskia. Notable expected guests include La Niña, Valerio Magrelli, Angela Terzani Staude, Tano D’Amico, Antonella Anedda, Ginevra Bompiani, Edoardo Camurri, Luciana Castellina, Pietro Castellitto, Paolo Di Paolo, Vittorio Lingiardi, Michele Masneri, Maria Grazia Calandrone, Antonio Forcellino, Giancarlo De Cataldo, Elio Pecora, Pino Strabioli, Marino Sinibaldi, Laura Delli Colli, Rahma Nur, Luigi Serafini, Francesca Maria Corrao, Enrico Terrinoni, and Elisabetta Villaggio, among many others. Jam Sessions in collaboration with Kiwi Jam, featuring some of Rome’s most prominent jazz musicians, are scheduled for September 7th, 10th, 21st, and 24th.
Throughout the festival, several mornings in September will be dedicated to meetings for students from Roman high schools, organized in collaboration with the Goethe Institut and Roma Tre University. Furthermore, the organizing society, Langshining, in partnership with Lorenzo Vanni, will hold a competition for students from participating schools. The contest aims to collect creative innovation projects focused on the concrete reimagining of Rome’s urban space. The best projects, judged by a committee of artists, poets, and writers present during the festival, will be compiled and presented to the city’s administration.
The project is realized under the patronage of the Municipality of Rome – Municipio I Roma Centro and with the financial contribution of Vanni, the initiative’s sponsor.