Summer at Casa Berto

Summer at Casa Berto is the literary festival-prize dedicated to the Venetian writer and playwright Giuseppe Berto, who found his own corner of paradise in Ricadi (VV), in the renowned town in the province of Vibo Valentia on the Costa degli Dei, to fight the ‘dark evil’.

Casa Berto, Capo Vaticano

Nestled at the foot of Mount Poro and nestled in the cliffs of Capo Vaticano, the scenic beaches of Ricadi attracted one of the most important and controversial writers, playwrights and intellectuals of the 20th century, Giuseppe Berto.

Casa Berto (Capo Vaticano) stands at the centre of what the Veneto writer adopted as his "place of the soul". The house-museum, which can be visited on the occasion of the festival Summer at Casa Berto, is a window on the intimacy of a solitary character, who in his "buen retiro" found inspiration to compose masterpieces such as, Il male oscuro (Campiello Prize 1964).

The literary review Summer at Casa Berto retraces the biography and works of the writer in the company of his family members, gives voice to the new promises of literature and awards them the prestigious ‘Giuseppe Berto’ Literary Prize.

Summer at Casa Berto: 2025 programme

Summer at Casa Berto takes place this year from 28 to 31 August in the spaces of Casa Berto, Capo Vaticano, which he himself built on top of this breathtaking promontory.

The programme includes literature, cinema, theatre and music events with prominent guests such as Isabella Ragonese, Iaia Forte, Antonio Padellaro, Niccolò Ammaniti, Gianluca Jodice, Emanuele Trevi, Massimo Sideri and Rodrigo D'Erasmo.

The festival will open with the concert Il Dominio della Luce (The Dominion of Light) with Rodrigo D'Erasmo and Roberto Angelini, followed by the screening of the film Rosa – Il canto delle sirene (Rosa – The Song of the Sirens) by Isabella Ragonese. The following days will feature recitals, talks, screenings and lectures, culminating in the closing concert with DAP and his evocative musical project Volcanoes.

On 20 September, the festival will conclude with a special event: Pare brutto, a poetry and performance show by Ilaria Amodio, accompanied by Rosy Suppa's photographic exhibition Blu ciano.