The Dante Festival

For over fifteen years, the Dante Festival has been bringing Dante’s poetry out of the pages of the *Divine Comedy*, placing it in dialogue with theater, film, and the performing arts. Conceived and organized by the Xenia cultural association, the festival was founded in 2010 with the aim of bringing Dante’s work closer to the public through contemporary creation, transforming the verses and images of the Divine Comedy into living material to be interpreted, performed, and shared.

Over the course of its editions, the Festival has developed a program that spans performances, films, exhibitions, talks, competitions, artist residencies, and book presentations, involving artists, scholars, students, and enthusiasts. At its core is not only the figure of Dante, but the opportunity to explore his poetic universe through different sensibilities and languages, building a bridge between Italy’s literary heritage and contemporary culture.

It is precisely this ability to foster a dialogue between memory and the present that makes the Dante Festival a gathering place centered on one of the great treasures of Italian culture. Dante thus becomes not merely a figure consigned to history, but an author still capable of generating images, questions, and new forms of expression—each time through the eyes of those who encounter him.