Genius Loci, the cultural festival back in Santa Croce

From September 26 to 28, the rediscovery of an extraordinary place with exceptional protagonists and original performances

From 24 to 28 September 2025, the monumental complex of Santa Croce in Florence will host the eighth edition of Genius Loci: Discovering Santa Croce, the festival that brings together music, art, literature, and spirituality in one of the world’s most inspiring settings.

The festival will be inaugurated by Carlo Lucarelli, renowned Italian writer and master of noir, who on Thursday, September 24 at 9:30 pm in the Second Cloister will stage, for the first time since its debut, the performance “Io le odio le favole. Storie che fanno paura ai bambini” (“I Hate Fairy Tales. Stories That Frighten Children”). Accompanied by musicians Mattia Dallara, Marco Rosetti, and Federico Squassabia, Lucarelli will guide the audience on a journey through the shadows and hidden symbols of fairy tales: enchanted castles and fairy godmothers intertwine with witches, wolves, and little match girls, in a narrative that sheds light on deep fears and transforms them into awareness.

The theme of this edition is peace, explored across five days of meetings, concerts, and site-specific performances that interact with the unique spaces of Santa Croce. The program ranges from singer-songwriter music to debates, from contemporary art to theater, turning the monumental complex into a true laboratory of beauty and reflection.

Among the most anticipated guests:

Michelangelo Pistoletto (26/9), artist and candidate for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, in dialogue with Ruggero Poi.
Aldo Schiavone and Riccardo Valentini, Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2007, together with Senator Riccardo Nencini and historian Irene Stolzi (25/9).
The voice of Frida Bollani Magoni, leading the traditional dawn concert (27/9).
Emma Nolde, acclaimed singer-songwriter and finalist for the Premio Tenco (25/9).
A unique musical encounter between Enrico Rava and Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Fred Hersch (26/9).

Special projects will also enrich the program, including a reading of Michelangelo Buonarroti’s texts by the Lombardi-Tiezzi company (28/9), the international sounds of Citron Citron, the new work by Gianni Maroccolo, and the premiere of the Slovenian trio Širom.

The festival will close on Sunday, September 28, with a symbolic journey of peace and brotherhood through guided tours connecting Santa Croce, the mosque, and the synagogue of Florence—a testament to the city’s vocation as a crossroads of spiritual and civic dialogue.

Admission is free with mandatory reservation at www.santacroceopera.it