Codex Noto Festival: First Weekend, September 4–6, 2026 — Theatre, Music and Performing Arts in Sicily’s Baroque Capital

Codex Noto Festival 2026: Full Program from September 4 to October

Theatre, music, dance, contemporary circus, poetry and talks in the heart of Noto

Starting on September 4, 2026, the Codex Noto Festival returns to Noto, in the province of Syracuse, for its 14th edition. A multidisciplinary project that brings together live performance, contemporary languages, local identity and social transformation.

The festival is scheduled from September 4 to October 4, 2026, with events taking place at the Former Noto Railway Station Warehouses, Teatro Tina Di Lorenzo and Convitto delle Arti.

The program is mainly divided into three blocks: September 4–6, September 18–20 and September 30–October 3.

CODEX NOTO FESTIVAL · SEPTEMBER 4–6, 2026

Friday, September 4

9:00 PM | Odisseo Superstar – The Hero Nobody Needs

Theatre · V.A.N. Collective – Verso Altre NarrazioniFormer Noto Railway Station WarehousesDuration: 60 minutes

The artists. V.A.N. – Verso Altre Narrazioni is a collective formed by young actors who graduated from the Academy of Ancient Drama of the INDA Foundation in Syracuse. Founded in 2021, the group travels across Italy bringing theatre to new audiences and working across classical theatre, musical theatre, contemporary dramaturgy and street performance.

Performing on stage are Andrea Di Falco, Gabriele Manfredi, Andrea Pacelli, Gabriele Rametta and Pierantonio Savo Valente.

The performance. Ulysses becomes the central thread of an ironic, light-hearted and poetic journey through Greek mythology. From the Trojan War to his return to Ithaca and beyond the Pillars of Hercules, the legendary hero of “many devices” is presented from a contemporary and less celebratory perspective.

A fresh way to approach myth through storytelling, theatre and music.

10:30 PM | Big Island Reggae Experience

Reggae Live · Mohasky, Mikilootzu and LuvesponeFormer Noto Railway Station Warehouses

The artists. Three performers from Sicily's reggae and dancehall scene. Mohasky, from Noto, is a former member of Mparoots Sound and is closely connected to the Big Island movement. Mikilootzu, from Avola, combines reggae with influences from hip hop, trap and pop. Luvespone is also part of the Sicilian reggae scene and frequently collaborates with Mikilootzu.

The concert. An evening centred around sound system culture and reggae and dancehall sounds, enriched by hip hop and contemporary influences. The three artists, already active in yards, showcases and festivals, come together on the Codex stage for a distinctly Sicilian Big Island Reggae Experience.

Saturday, September 5

9:00 PM | Giulia Mei – Io della musica non ci ho capito niente

Concert · Opening act: EDELFormer Noto Railway Station Warehouses

The artist. Giulia Mei is a singer-songwriter and pianist from Palermo who moved to Milan in 2022. Her music blends classical piano training, Italian and French songwriting traditions, indie pop and electronic sounds.

In 2023 she released “Bandiera”, a song addressing gender-based violence that later gained further attention following her appearance on X Factor 2024, becoming widely shared across social media and streaming platforms.

The concert. After more than 60 live dates connected to her album Io della musica non ci ho capito niente, Giulia Mei arrives at Codex Festival with a renewed show and a new setlist. Her direct songwriting, irony, piano playing and contemporary approach to Italian songwriting remain at the heart of the performance.

The evening will open with EDEL.

10:30 PM | After Festival DJ Set

MusicFormer Noto Railway Station Warehouses

After the concert, Saturday night continues with the After Festival DJ Set, an event dedicated to music and socialising in the spaces of the Former Railway Station Warehouses.

Sunday, September 6

7:00 PM | Who Lives in This City?

Talk · Guest: Giovanni SemiFormer Noto Railway Station WarehousesFree admission

The guest. Giovanni Semi is a sociology professor at the Polytechnic University of Turin and a researcher specialising in urban transformation, social change, migration and gentrification processes.

The talk. A city in transformation, tourism changing the balance of the historic centre, abandoned buildings and spaces taking on new functions: who decides the future of a city, and who continues to live in it?

The discussion brings together citizens, artists and local economic stakeholders to reflect on the changes affecting Noto and, more broadly, many contemporary tourist destinations.

9:00 PM | Panta rhei – πάντα ῥεῖ

DanceFormer Noto Railway Station WarehousesDuration: 30 minutes

The artists. The choreography is by Salvatore Romania and Laura Odierna, while Giulia Morandi and Aby Koshy Biju perform on stage.

The performance. The starting point is the famous Heraclitean principle that “everything flows.” Two bodies enter the continuous flow of existence, moving through cycles, encounters and transformations.

Dance becomes matter in motion, and the body becomes a space in which impermanence is expressed: no gesture is identical to the one before it, and every encounter exists only once.

10:30 PM | Graziano è il nome che voleva darmi mia madre

Theatre-song projectBy Orazio Condorelli, Adriano Di Mauro, Antonio Calandra and Pierluca AbramoFormer Noto Railway Station WarehousesDuration: 60 minutes

The artists. Orazio Condorelli works in dramaturgy, directing and training. Adriano Di Mauro is a singer-songwriter and illustrator from Catania whose work moves between Italian songwriting, psychedelia and lo-fi. Antonio Calandra is part of the musical project Club Rivera, combining Mediterranean sounds with house, jazz and hip hop. They are joined by Pierluca Abramo.

The performance. The starting point is the freedom of imagination. Graziano's personal diary gradually becomes a collective story in which everyday life and surrealism overlap.

Imaginary worlds are not created to escape reality, but to look at it from different perspectives. A performance about the creative power of thought and about everything that can exist only because someone first imagined it.

CODEX NOTO FESTIVAL · SEPTEMBER 18–20, 2026

Friday, September 18

9:00 PM | Sutta Scupa

Theatre · Giuseppe Massa and Giuseppe ProvinzanoTeatro Tina Di Lorenzo – NotoDuration: 60 minutes

The artists. The text is by Giuseppe Massa, who also directs and performs in the show alongside Giuseppe Provinzano. The production is by Babel – A.C. Sutta Scupa, with music by Simona Norato.

The performance. Giovanni and Vito are two unemployed friends. For more than twenty years they have been waiting for a job interview that could finally change their lives.

Their wait is controlled by a Voice, a sort of contemporary fairy that increasingly resembles an Artificial Intelligence: it determines timing, possibilities and hopes.

Their lives remain suspended on the margins of a society that promises progress but produces stagnation. Echoes of Beckett, Vladimir and Estragon turn their wait into a reflection on uncertainty, work and unfulfilled promises.

10:30 PM | Gianluca Gill

ConcertConvitto delle Arti – Noto

The artist. Gianluca Gill is an Italian singer-songwriter and author based in Berlin. Since his debut with Caro petrolio, he has developed a style combining music, politics, irony and reflections on contemporary society.

His works include Chi ha ucciso Luigi Tenco? and Disco Quantistico, recorded at Berlin's Funkhaus.

The concert. Gill will retrace the different phases of his repertoire together with guitarist Turi Di Natale, his longtime collaborator and arranger.

A significant part of the performance will also be dedicated to Franco Battiato, following his artistic journey from early experimentation to his success in the 1980s and later collaboration with philosopher Manlio Sgalambro.

Saturday, September 19

9:00 PM | La Sparanoia – One Act with No Serious Injuries, Unfortunately

Theatre · Niccolò Fettarappa and Lorenzo GuerrieriTeatro Tina Di Lorenzo – NotoDuration: 90 minutes

The artists. Niccolò Fettarappa and Lorenzo Guerrieri are authors, actors and directors among the most recognisable young voices in contemporary Italian theatre. Their work uses body, language, rhythm and irony to explore political conflict, precarity and generational contradictions.

The project was conceived and written by Fettarappa, with intellectual contribution by Christian Raimo, and is directed by Fettarappa and Guerrieri.

The performance. La Sparanoia is a deliberately fierce political and generational satire. Tamed young people, armchair revolutionaries, frustrated desires for rebellion and seemingly insignificant everyday obsessions build a grotesque world in which anger struggles even to find a form.

Behind the comedy lies the portrait of a generation marked by precarity, oppression and political disorientation.

10:30 PM | After Festival

MusicConvitto delle Arti – Noto

The evening continues with the second After Festival, a musical event designed as a meeting point for audiences, artists and the festival community.

Sunday, September 20

9:00 PM | Big Boots

Contemporary circus · Cordata FOR / Kapy CompanyConvitto delle Arti – NotoDuration: 60 minutes

The artists. Performing are Fanni Silmunen, Linnea Tuominen and Siiri Lehtiö, with Annika Koljonen and Ile Poikela. The production is a collaboration between Cordata FOR and Kapy Company.

The performers come from the world of contemporary circus, with experience spanning acrobatics, aerial disciplines and performance research.

The performance. Big Boots brings the language of contemporary circus into the Codex program, using circus technique, movement and stage construction not as isolated displays of skill, but as parts of a unified performance.

The project is also supported by Finfringe Festival and Muja Buskers Festival.

10:30 PM | Dance Malora

Concert · Alternative rock / noiseConvitto delle Arti – Noto

The artists. Dance Malora was formed by Alberto, Daniele, Ence and Marco, musicians coming from different experiences within the same local music scene.

The band takes rock as its starting point and moves towards alternative rock, noise and conceptual rock. In 2019 they won LavicaRock; in 2021 they released their self-titled debut album, and since 2023 they have collaborated with Hikaru Label.

The concert. On stage, rock becomes above all an open field for experimentation. Structures, rhythms and sounds are broken down and rebuilt in search of new languages beyond traditional genre boundaries.

CODEX NOTO FESTIVAL · SEPTEMBER 30–OCTOBER 3, 2026

Wednesday, September 30

Antigone – Exercises in Democracy

Theatre and participatory performance-workshopTeatro Tina Di Lorenzo – NotoPerformances: 9:30 AM · 11:30 AM · 9:00 PM

The artists. The production is by IAC – Centro Arti Integrate, a Matera-based organisation working across theatre, participation, visual research and community projects.

Performing is Nadia Casamassima, directed by Andrea Santantonio, with illustrations by Vincenzo Suscetta.

The performance. The story is that of Antigone: Creon forbids the burial of Polynices, but the young woman chooses to defy the law.

This time, however, the audience does not simply watch. Spectators become the Chorus and are asked to choose: support Antigone or side with Creon?

The Greek myth thus becomes a genuine exercise in democracy, a participatory reflection on power, rebellion, individual responsibility and collective decisions.

Thursday, October 1

9:30 AM and 11:30 AM | The Divine Comedy Told to Children

Shadow theatreTeatro Tina Di Lorenzo – NotoDuration: 70 minutes

The artists. The project is curated by actress, director and trainer Laura Nardi, a graduate of the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts.

She is joined by Gaia Insenga at the overhead projector, using images created by Laura Cortini.

The performance. Can Dante be told to children? The answer comes through a large-scale fairy tale built with shadows, images, colours and audience participation.

Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso become the starting point for talking about good and evil, justice and the destiny of the soul.

Children are not passive spectators: they take part through sounds, actions and small roles within the story.

The performance is intended for audiences aged 5 to 15.

9:00 PM | Poetry Slam

Performance · Renata Prado and Giovanni ArezzoTeatro Tina Di Lorenzo – Noto

The artists. Renata Prado is a cultural organiser, booking manager and slam poet, founder of the multidisciplinary project KATHARTICON and active in performance poetry.

Giovanni Arezzo, an actor from Ragusa and graduate of the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts, works in theatre as both performer and author. Under the stage name Soulcè, he is also a rapper and performance poet.

The performance. Poetry Slam takes poetry beyond the written page and transforms it into voice, rhythm, stage presence and direct interaction with the audience.

Two different artistic paths meet on stage through spoken word, performance and contemporary forms of poetic expression.

Friday, October 2

10:00 AM | Connections Between Centre and Periphery

TalkTeatro Tina Di Lorenzo – NotoFree admission

A discussion dedicated to the relationship between peripheral territories and cultural centres, local experiences and international networks.

Through a round table involving experts in collaborative planning and European cooperation, the event will explore models, practices and new forms of collaboration capable of connecting communities, culture and territory.

9:00 PM | Amarene

Staged reading · By Orazio CondorelliTeatro Tina Di Lorenzo – Noto

The artist. Orazio Condorelli works across dramaturgy, directing, training and theatrical projects that connect personal experience, territory and collective identity.

The performance. Amarene is a staged reading that directly explores the relationship between inhabitants and place.

It begins with very concrete questions: do we still feel at home in the places where we grew up? How does a city change when tourism becomes increasingly dominant? How can Noto avoid being perceived only as a postcard?

A performance closely connected to the central themes of the 14th edition of Codex Festival: identity, belonging and urban transformation.

10:30 PM | Sutartronica – Electronic / Polyphony

MusicTeatro Tina Di Lorenzo – NotoFree admission

The artists. Sutartronica is a Lithuanian music project founded by producer and musician Victor Diawara and folklorist and singer Laurita Peleniūtė. They are joined by vocalists Eglė Jačauskienė and Viltė Ambrazaitytė.

The concert. The project combines contemporary electronic music with sutartinės, ancient Lithuanian polyphonic songs traditionally performed by female voices.

Archaic vocals, traditional harmonies and electronic production create a soundscape in which past and present coexist, moving between world music, ritual and electronic experimentation.

Saturday, October 3

9:00 PM | La Classe

Theatre · Directed by Fabiana IacozzilliTeatro Tina Di Lorenzo – NotoDuration: 55 minutes

The artist. Fabiana Iacozzilli is a director and author whose work explores contemporary dramaturgy and the expressive possibilities of performance.

On stage are Michela Aiello, Andrei Balan, Antonia D'Amore, Francesco Meloni and Marta Meneghetti, together with puppets created by Fiammetta Mandich.

The performance. La Classe combines live performers, autobiographical material and puppetry.

At the centre are memories of primary school, discipline, fear of authority and the adults who shaped childhood.

The grown-ups become puppets returning to the classroom of their youth. Apparently distant memories come back to influence the way the present is perceived.

A performance about memory, education, authority and the construction of identity, in which individual experience becomes a collective theatrical journey.

Codex Noto Festival 2026: Theatre, Music and Culture in Noto

The 14th edition of the Codex Noto Festival unfolds across almost a month of programming, bringing together very different artistic languages: contemporary theatre, dance, circus, reggae, singer-songwriting, alternative rock, electronic music, shadow theatre, performance poetry and public discussions.

A program focused on the contemporary world and on the relationship between people, places, identity and the transformation of communities.

The choice of venues is also an essential part of the project: from the Former Noto Railway Station Warehouses to Teatro Tina Di Lorenzo and the Convitto delle Arti, different spaces across the city become part of a single cultural journey.

Codex Festival and RitroVino: Before or After the Shows

For anyone attending the Codex Noto Festival 2026, RitroVino is located in the heart of Noto and is an ideal stop before or after a performance.

We look forward to welcoming you between Via Archimede and Largo Porta Nazionale for a glass of Sicilian wine, a sharing board or a relaxing break, continuing your evening through wines, producers and flavours from the territory.

Information, Details and Tickets

🎟️ For the official program, detailed information about each performance and ticket purchases:https://www.codexfestival.eu/