Va' Sentiero Fest, Italy's first expedition-festival, returns to the Pollino National Park from 5 to 17 July with trekking, events and nature experiences.
Back comes Va' Sentiero Fest, Italy's first expedition-festival, an event that transforms hiking into a collective experience capable of bringing together trekking, culture, environmental education and the promotion of local territories. The second edition will take place from 5 to 17 July in the heart of the Parco nazionale del Pollino, covering over 190 kilometres between Calabria and Basilicata.
Born from the experience of Va' Sentiero, the project that between 2019 and 2021 covered over 8,000 kilometres along the Sentiero Italia CAI, the festival today represents the evolution of that great adventure: not just telling the story of Italy's mountains, but living them together with the people who inhabit them, promoting a model of slow, sustainable and participatory tourism. People walk, favour public transport, commit to reducing their environmental impact, carry out citizen science activities, involve host communities, and champion local produce and businesses.
The heart of the festival is the trekking. Not a simple organised walk, but an expedition open to the public. For thirteen days, participants will be able to choose whether to take on the entire route or join the group for one or more stages, sharing the journey with the Va' Sentiero team and numerous guests from the worlds of culture, mountaineering, tourism and the environment. A participatory format that will involve over ten municipalities, turning the Pollino into a widespread laboratory of encounter, discovery and dialogue. Each day the route crosses different landscapes and leads to a new host community.
The itinerary winds through the heart of the Parco nazionale del Pollino, between Calabria and Basilicata, an extraordinary territory for its biodiversity, cultural identity and landscape variety — places far from mass tourism, yet rich in opportunities and new projects. The symbolic walk connecting two seas and two regions sets off from Scalea and the Riviera dei Cedri: this is the moment when participants meet, pack their rucksacks and begin building the community that will accompany the entire journey. One stage per day, the route passes through villages, forests, valleys, rivers and mountains.
The events programme will alternate trekking with cultural talks, music, outdoor experiences and moments dedicated to discovering local traditions. Along the way, participants enjoy experiences that allow them to connect with the Pollino from different perspectives: from nights in tent camps to river rafting, from the opening concert by singer-songwriter Giulia Mei to the "paesologia" of Franco Arminio, from foraging to dinners exploring local flavours.
The final destination is on the Ionian Sea, at Sibari: at the Archaeological Park, Va' Sentiero Fest meets Vinitaly and the City for a closing event that brings together archaeology, landscape, food and wine culture, and the identity of the territory. It is the ideal conclusion of a journey that has connected sea and mountain, nature and community, walking and storytelling. One last toast before the trails fall silent again and the journey lives on in the memories of those who experienced it.
Participation in the festival is free, but the trekking requires good physical fitness and adequate experience in mountain environments.