Volcanoes Festival 2025 in Trecastagni: science, art and dissemination to explore the heart of the Earth

The historic center of Trecastagni (CT) is preparing to host the third edition of the Festival Vulcani - Etna 2025, a festival that from June 27 to 29 will intertwine science, culture, theater and popularization to narrate the volcanoes of the world, their activities and the creativity they are able to generate . The event, entitled " Terre Indimenticabili ", is organized by the Fondazione Trecastagni Patrimonio dell'Etna and directed by the Sicilian popularizer Giuseppe Riggio.

The Festival enjoys the patronage of important institutions such as the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), the Department of Tourism of the Sicilian Region, the Sicilian Regional Assembly (ARS), the Municipality of Trecastagni and the Italian Association of Volcanology (AIV). This year's edition promises to be an unmissable opportunity to delve deeper into the natural phenomena that govern volcanoes and to explore the human dimension that, through culture, tradition and knowledge of the territory, lies behind them.

Throughout the Festival, there will be a stand curated by the INGV Etneo Observatory, where enthusiasts and the curious will be able to discover some of the monitoring instruments used daily by researchers.

The calendar of events is varied and offers appointments for every interest:

Introduction to Volcanism : a seminar promoted by the AIV will see the participation of university professors and experts in the sector, offering a complete overview of volcanism and the activity of volcanoes on Earth.

Interview with Etna : an experiment in participatory theatre, with texts by Giuseppe Riggio, will see the actress Maria Rita Sgarlato lend her voice to Nature, interviewed by Alberto Abbadessa, with the intervention of an ironic social choir.

Homage to Franco Battiato : Rita Botto will reinterpret the lyrics of the singer-songwriter from Catania dedicated to Etna, in a combination of music and volcanic landscape.

" Der Aetna " : INGV will present the first Italian translation of the second volume of the work by Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen and Arnold von Lasaulx. The edition, published by Edizioni dell'Istituto and edited by Stefano Branca and Luigi Ingaliso, celebrates the 145th anniversary of the publication of this work of great importance for the history of volcanology.

Meeting with the INGV Etna Observatory : Eugenio Privitera, researcher of the Catania Section of the INGV, will illustrate to the public the early warning systems of active volcanoes, with a particular focus on the very current examples of Etna and Stromboli.

Story about Volcanic Lands : a testimony dedicated to Pantelleria, with a multi-voiced dialogue between Antonietta Valenza (writer and teacher from Pantelleria), Francesco Ciancitto (guide of the Pantelleria Island National Park) and Marco Marcialis (wine educator).

Documentary " Pietra Madre " : Screening of the work by Daniele Greco and Mauro Maugeri, a poetic tale about the identity and memory that the earth preserves.

The event will end on Sunday 29 June at 8:20 pm with the national preview of the documentary " While everything moves. The volcanological observatory of Pizzi Deneri ", directed by Pasquale Marino and produced by the PNRR-MEET project of the INGV, coordinated by Giulio Selvaggi . Through photos, archive footage and testimonies of the protagonists, the docufilm will tell the story of the difficult construction of the Pizzi Deneri Observatory, built on the northern slope of Etna between 1975 and 1978 at 2,818 meters above sea level. The Observatory, a two-domed structure built with the Binishell technique by the architect Dante Bini, represents the spearhead of the complex monitoring and surveillance system of Etna carried out by the Etna Observatory of the INGV.

Cover image credits: INGV