National Festival of Storytellers

Two days to tell the world through the voice, music and stories of those who have always carried on oral traditions with passion and creativity: on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 June 2025, the city of Catanzaro will host Heart Storytellers, the National Festival of Storytellers conceived and promoted by the cultural association ASSOFORMAC, which pays tribute to the art of storytellers and the richness of popular cultures, both Italian and international.

Heart Storytellers transforms the San Giovanni Monumental Complex, in the heart of the historic centre, into a vital space for meeting, reflection and performance. Workshops, conferences, exhibitions, concerts, screenings and guided tours will give voice to an intangible heritage that continues to unite generations, languages and territories.

• On Friday, 13 June at 5.30 p.m., the inauguration of the photographic and documentary exhibition ‘’Grazie, carissimo Otello!‘’, curated by Prof. Gian Paolo Borghi, in collaboration with Calabrian storyteller Francesca Prestìa. A tribute to the great Otello Profazio, symbol of the southern singer-songwriter tradition.
• This will be followed, at 6 pm, by the National Conference of Storytellers, with the participation of scholars, journalists, writers and artists, including Tiziana Oppizzi, Claudio Piccoli, Giuseppe Tripodi, Paolo Bolano and Massimo De Pascale. The meeting will be moderated by Marcello Barillà and Francesca Prestìa. To close, a performance by Sicilian storyteller Mauro Geraci.
• Also on Friday, in the suggestive Cloister of the Complex, there will be a tasting of the traditional Catanzaro ‘’morzeddhu‘’ by the ‘Antica Congrega Tre Colli’, for an authentic taste of local flavours.
• On Saturday 14 June at 9.30 p.m., the grand finale with the concert ‘’Homage to Otello Profazio‘’, which will feature some of the best-known storytellers on the national scene: Rocco Jenco, Nino Racco, Biagio Accardi, Nando Brusco, Fulvio Cama and Francesca Prestìa.