28th "VALLE D'ITRIA" INTERNATIONAL
MUSIC BAND FESTIVAL
CISTERNINO 16 - 19 JULY 2026
The "Valle d'Itria" International Music Band Festival takes place in July every year and it will be at the 28th edition in 2026.
Since its inception, the Festival has welcomed music bands from Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Israel, Palestine, the United States, Greece, Tunisia, Malta, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Spain, Russia and Ukraine, in the lovely location of Cisternino and the Itria Valley in Apulia (the "heel of the boot" of Italy).
Over the years, the Festival has become a unique meet-up for European marching bands,through a dense network of collaboration with the most important European festivals for music bands.
Only a short-op from the seaside and from the major tourist attractions of Apulia and Basilicata, the Festival aims to promote cultural exchange and, at the same time, raise awareness of the artistic, gastronomic and landscape beauties of the Itria Valley and the Apulian region, also thanks to organised trips for International and Italian guest music groups.
The Music Association "City of Cisternino" APS is the promoter and organizer of the event. The association owns the "Vitino Zizzi" Wind Orchestra and is a close partner and collaborator of the Cisternino City Council and the Apulia Region administation.
Festival's Guests
We are very pleased to announce that for the 28th International Festival of Music Bands “Valle d'Itria” we will have the honour of hosting:
-
the Banda de Música da Sociedade Filarmónica Vizelense from Portugal 🇵🇹
-
the Redelijk Onverantwoord from the Netherlands 🇳🇱
-
the Majorettes Mölndal Drill & Göteborg DrumKorpen from Sweden 🇸🇪
-
the Banda Musicale Ittirese from Ittiri, Sardinia 🇮🇹
-
the Associazione Bandistica "XX Giugno 1950" from Fondachelli-Fantina, Sicily 🇮🇹
-
the Corpo Bandistico Cittadino di Polverigi from Polverigi, Marche 🇮🇹
The hosts, our Wind Orchestra "Vitino Zizzi" and the young players of the AMC Junior Band from Cisternino! 🇮🇹
The Festival takes place in the beautiful Cisternino, pearl of the Itria Valley, and a shot-hop from the seaside and popular touristic destinations destinations such as Alberobello, Ostuni, Polignano a Mare, Lecce and Matera, which can be visited and ejoyed during your stay.
Festival's Program
Thursday 16th July 9pm
Prologue
This edition gives us the wonderful opportunity to celebrate the international spirit of our festival and of our band — a social and cultural reference point for the whole community — with "Around the World in 80 Days".
Opening the evening is the debut of the brand-new AMC Junior Band, conducted by Maestro Angelo Semeraro: over forty young local musicians, aged 8 to 15, taking to the stage — some of them for the very first time.
Then comes a musical journey around the globe with the "Vitino Zizzi" Wind Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Donato Semeraro, with Giuseppe Ciciriello as narrator, guiding the audience from one stop to the next.
Friday 17th July 9pm
Opening Ceremony + Pinocchio
The official opening will be entrusted to an evening parade through the streets of the town centre, welcoming and presenting the bands and majorettes to the large audience.
Among the stars of the parade, the irrepressible Minnie and Mickey Mouse band, ready to bring a smile to young and old along the streets of the old town.
This will be followed by the musical fairy tale "Pinocchio, the story of a puppet": the warm narrating voice of Francesco Pannofino meets the "Vitino Zizzi" Wind Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Donato Semeraro, for an unforgettable second evening.
Saturday 18th July 8.30pm
Concertone
On a modern, immersive stage dominated by a large ledwall that amplifies lights, colours and visual content, all the formations will perform in the characteristic location set between the Norman-Swabian Tower and the Mother Church of San Nicola di Pàtara.
Sunday 19th July 8.30pm
Street Parade + Rocco Papaleo
The various and picturesque corners of the historic centre of Cisternino, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, will be brought to life by the roaming performances of the groups taking part: a great street parade that turns the town into an open-air stage.
Bidding farewell to this edition will be Rocco Papaleo with his show "Perdere tempo mi viene facile", an engaging blend of music, words and irony.
And for the grand finale, a surprise encore: Rocco Papaleo and his band together with our "Vitino Zizzi" Wind Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Donato Semeraro, to close the festival in celebration.
A Suspended Orchestra
Among the trees of the Pineta Comunale, the Festival's new logo takes shape and breathes: real musical instruments suspended in mid-air — trumpets, horns, saxophones and a glowing bass drum — composing, in the evening dark, the rose window of sounds and colours that has become the symbol of this edition.
A play of light brushes over brass and drum-skins and seems to make them ring out: glimmers that flicker on like notes in the night, lending a voice to the instruments hanging among the branches.
Conceived by Maraviglia di Puglia, it turns the pine grove into an open-air orchestra.
The installation will frame the Press Conference on 29 June and, throughout the Festival, it becomes a photo booth: visitors, families and musicians can pose beneath the suspended instruments and take home a print of their selfie — a small keepsake of light and music.
