Passepartout Festival
The Biblioteca Astense's festival of ideas, held every June since 2004: a week of evening talks in the library courtyard, where writers, historians, journalists, scientists and public figures discuss a theme chosen for the year.
Why it's special
For a week in early June the courtyard of Asti's public library hosts what its organisers call one of Italy's most highly rated meetings of culture and ideas, with two talks a day and a guest list that has included Umberto Eco, Umberto Galimberti, Massimo Cacciari and Philippe Daverio. Some evenings draw nearly 900 people. Each edition has its own theme: 'Generazioni' in 2025, 'Voci' in 2026.
Programme · 2026
23rd edition, theme 'Voci' (Voices). Scientific director Alberto Sinigaglia. Talks at 18:00 and 21:00 in the courtyard of the Biblioteca Astense.
- Entry has been free while seats last (as in 2025); for the best-known guests come early.
- The entrance to the courtyard is in Via Carducci 64, not at the library's main door in Via Goltieri.
- In rain the talks move to Palco 19 nearby (as in 2025).
- The talks are in Italian.
- In 2025 they were streamed on the festival's Facebook page and later posted on YouTube.
- In winter the library runs a smaller series, 'Passepartout en Hiver', of book talks mixed with art and music.
Passepartout is the festival of the Biblioteca Astense Giorgio Faletti, Asti's public library, and it has been held every year since 2004. It is one of the few Italian festivals of its kind run by a library. For a week in early June the library courtyard fills every afternoon and evening for conversations with writers, historians, economists, magistrates, scientists, journalists and churchmen, on a theme chosen for the year.
In its early seasons it hosted some of the best-known Latin American writers. Over the years the speakers have included Umberto Eco, Umberto Galimberti, Massimo Cacciari and Philippe Daverio. The themes follow current affairs as much as books: 'Generazioni' in 2025 set different generations side by side, and 'Voci' in 2026 was about listening and the many voices, literary and civic, that the library gathers.
The meetings are in Italian and have been free to attend, and the courtyard, entered from Via Carducci, is a pleasant place to spend a June evening in the centre. The library also runs the Premio Asti d'Appello, a literary prize revived in 2009 at Paolo Conte's suggestion, which gives a second chance to novels that came second or third in Italy's big literary prizes; its final is held at the Teatro Alfieri in late November.
See what else there is to do in Asti.
Past editions
| Year | Dates | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1–7 June 2026 | 23rd edition, theme 'Voci' (Voices). Scientific director Alberto Sinigaglia. Talks at 18:00 and 21:00 in the courtyard of the Biblioteca Astense. Mon 1 Jun – Lidia Ravera and Marco Balzano, 'Vedi alla voce giovani' Tue 2 Jun – Sebastian Schwarz with Alberto Bazzano; film director Giulio Base on cinema Wed 3 Jun – Alessandro Vanoli and Carmela Giglio on the Mediterranean and Europe; Cardinal Roberto Repole, Archbishop of Turin Thu 4 Jun – Benedetta Tobagi on the 'anni di piombo'; statistician Linda Laura Sabbadini with Andrea Malaguti Fri 5 Jun – Don Luigi Ciotti; Gianfranco Astori on 80 years of the Italian Republic Sat 6 Jun – Giordano Bruno Guerri; Telmo Pievani Sun 7 Jun – Alessandra Necci; Flavia Nardelli and Agnese Pini on 'La Repubblica delle italiane' Fri 12 Jun – Passepartout Off: Domenico Quirico on Afghanistan |
| 2025 | 3–8 June 2025 | 22nd edition, theme 'Generazioni', on past, present and future generations, with the Comune di Asti and the Regione Piemonte. Free entry while seats last. Guests included Alan Friedman, Agnese Pini, Annalena Benini, Gianfranco Fini, Luciano Violante, Giovanni Maria Flick, Guido Saracco, Luca Bottura and Amalia Ercoli Finzi Fri 13 Jun – Off event 'La Grande Storia' |