Theatre, music and dance in summer
Every summer, from the end of June to mid July, Spoleto becomes one of the capitals of international culture with the Festival dei Due Mondi, the Festival of Two Worlds, one of the oldest and most prestigious performing arts festivals in Europe. It was founded in 1958 by the Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, who chose Spoleto, a small town that was then little known, for its beauty, its theatres and its atmosphere, with the idea of creating a meeting place between the cultures of the "two worlds", Europe and America. Later, a sister festival was born in Charleston, in the United States.
Over the decades, the festival has hosted the greatest names in opera, theatre, dance, classical and contemporary music, cinema and visual arts, from Luchino Visconti, who directed operas here, to Rudolf Nureyev, Ezra Pound, Pablo Neruda, Eugene Ionesco, Bob Wilson and many others, and has launched many young artists. The performances are held in the theatres of the town, such as the Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti and the Teatro Caio Melisso, one of the oldest in Italy, in the Roman theatre, in the churches and cloisters, and in the squares, where art installations and free events are also organised. The festival traditionally ends with a great final concert in Piazza del Duomo, in front of the cathedral, with thousands of spectators sitting on the steps and in the square, in one of the most beautiful settings in the world.
Tip: book tickets and accommodation well in advance; the final concert in Piazza del Duomo is an unforgettable experience.
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