Barcolana58 presented by Generali: with “Be Open”, the city opens up to culture and the sea

From the Borghi to the neighbourhoods, from Porto Vecchio to museums, from galleries to stages, all the way to the Karst and the Pedocin: Barcolana58 presented by Generali unveils its programme of cultural events and activities on land, which from 2 to 11 October will accompany Trieste on its journey towards the Autumn Cup. A city-wide calendar involving more than one hundred locations and contributing to the more than 500 events making up the 58th edition, across land, lakes, lagoons and the sea.

The common thread running through the programme on land is “Be Open”: an invitation to open up the city to artists, students, associations, researchers and communities, to transform places into spaces for meeting and exchange, and to look at the sea through different languages and perspectives, from art to science, music, literature and cinema. A programme created together with the local community, bringing major events together with initiatives born from the participation of organisations and groups across the city.

“Be Open is, first and foremost, about Barcolana’s ability to embrace the ideas and energy of others,” said Mitja Gialuz, President of the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano. “We invited the local community to take part and the response was extraordinary: associations, cultural organisations, businesses, artists, researchers and citizens have brought a wide range of projects into Barcolana, creating with us a programme that perhaps none of us could have imagined alone. This is what we particularly value about this edition: Barcolana does not simply put on events, it brings people, places and expertise together. The sea remains our starting point, but it also becomes a space through which we can talk about culture, science, the environment, music, literature and inclusion. This is what Be Open means: being curious, welcoming different languages and perspectives, and allowing Barcolana to continue to grow thanks to the people who choose to be part of it.”

The scale of this participation is also reflected in the response to the “Candida il tuo evento” (“Submit Your Event”) call for proposals, supported by the Municipality of Trieste and Fondazione CRTrieste, which received more than 110 applications, 91 of which were accepted. These proposals join the programme with exhibitions, meetings, performances, cultural projects and events across the city, contributing to a calendar of more than 500 events in over one hundred different locations, across land, lakes, lagoons and the sea.

In his remarks, Mayor Roberto Dipiazza thanked the event organisers and highlighted the close bond between Barcolana and the local area. “Barcolana is our community’s great celebration. Trieste and Barcolana are now inseparable, so much so that the words ‘Città della Barcolana’ – ‘City of Barcolana’ – proudly welcome people as they enter our city. Trieste has an extraordinary cultural history. Once again this year, a huge number of initiatives are planned to entertain the many people expected during the weeks of the event.”

From Porto Vecchio to the Borghi, from museums to neighbourhoods, from the Karst to the Pedocin, the programme crosses the city, embracing different languages and audiences. Exhibitions and installations will be hosted at Magazzino 26, the Civico Museo del Mare, Sala Fini and many other venues; nature, research and science communication will take audiences from the sea to the Karst; while cinema, photography and visual arts will be combined with initiatives dedicated to inclusion and the involvement of the Greek, Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian communities. Events also include “La Tribù Bill sull’Onda della Barcolana: Legalità, Letture e Giustizia Riparativa”, organised with LeggiAMO 0-18 FVG and Cooperativa Damatrà, which on Monday 5 October will involve young people from the USSM in reading sessions for children and a sailing experience as part of the Lega Navale’s outings aboard the *Barche della Legalità*. Completing the programme are live music across the Borghi, workshops and activities for children and families, events dedicated to understanding and protecting the sea, and the eighth edition of Barcolana Un Mare di Racconti.

BE COMMUNITY: FROM THE BORGHI TO THE NEIGHBOURHOODS – The journey that began in 2025 with Borgo Cavana and “Le vie del Mare” grows this year with Be Community, the project through which Barcolana58 presented by Generali strengthens its relationship with the living fabric of the city. Following the success of the first Cavana experience, created to take Barcolana beyond the waterfront, the project expands to Borgo Teresiano and continues into the neighbourhoods, involving associations, cultural organisations, businesses and local residents.

A total of 109 organisations and businesses are taking part across the two Borghi: 54 in Borgo Cavana and 55 in Borgo Teresiano. Shops, venues and other local organisations will symbolically join the Barcolana fleet, be identified by a dedicated flag, feature on a map and contribute their own initiatives to the programme. The project is supported by Generali, together with the Municipality of Trieste, Fondazione CRTrieste, Casa della Musica, FIPE and Confcommercio, and also aims to improve the overall experience of the event by encouraging audiences to spread out across the city and by coordinating activities.

Music will be one of the central features of the two Borghi, turning them into one large, city-wide stage. Piazza Cavana will host, among others, MissMas, The Fabulous Love Potion, Movimento Cumbiero, Spakkazuc, Whiskey Facile, Crossroads Vocal Group and Bandomat, culminating in Sagravana 2026. The stage in Via del Sale will bring together words and music, while in Borgo Teresiano the floating stage on the Canal Grande at Ponterosso will host Kety Fusco, New Era Quartet and Mauro Ottolini Osaki Trio with “Sea Shell – Musica per conchiglie”, alongside the events of “Festa del mare”. Crossroads Vocal Group and Spakkazuc will also move between the two Borghi, turning music into a travelling presence throughout the area.

Alongside the concerts, the Borghi programme will feature workshops dedicated to mosaics, paper, printing, ceramics and drawing, activities for children and families, talks, tastings and numerous initiatives proposed directly by local businesses.

“THE FIRST TIME I SAW THE SEA”: BARCOLANA REMEMBERS THE FRIULI EARTHQUAKE – On the 50th anniversary of the Friuli earthquake, Barcolana dedicates a space to remembrance with “La prima volta che ho visto il mare. 1976-2026. Per ricordare il terremoto del Friuli” (“The First Time I Saw the Sea. 1976-2026. Remembering the Friuli Earthquake”). Images, documents and theatre will weave together the voices of the areas affected by the earthquake in a collective narrative, in Friulian and Triestine dialect, dedicated to memory, the strength of communities and rebirth.

Sala del Torchio will host an installation dedicated to Friuli, while the opening will include an institutional event on the stage in Piazza Cavana, accompanied by themed readings and music with Adriano Giraldi and Maria Grazia Plos.

THE BATHYSCAPHE TRIESTE: A NEW SECTION AT THE DE HENRIQUEZ MUSEUM – On Friday 2 October at 7.00 pm, the new exhibition section of the Museo della Guerra per la Pace “Diego de Henriquez” dedicated to the Bathyscaphe Trieste will be inaugurated. A tribute to ingenuity and research championed by Councillor Giorgio Rossi, with whom the project was conceived and developed. During the inauguration, the Bathyscaphe Award will be dedicated to the memory of Councillor Rossi, who supported and accompanied Barcolana over the years with passion and great care.

BARCOLANA IN THE NEIGHBOURHOODS – Be Community also reaches the city’s neighbourhoods, continuing the experience launched in 2025 with “Le vie del Mare”. On Friday 2 October in Altura, from 3.00 pm, the square outside the Nostra Signora di Lourdes parish church will host skateboarding, mountain biking and artistic roller skating, with workshops, trials and demonstrations aimed particularly at younger participants.

On Saturday 3 October, Campo San Giacomo will take centre stage, transforming from 3.00 pm to 9.30 pm into a space dedicated to street culture, with a mobile flow ramp, free skating, “Cash for Tricks” and music.

In Roiano, meanwhile, “Aspettando la Barcolana” will bring theatre, music, dance and performances to Piazza tra i Rivi on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October, before moving to the “Max Cosina” Garden on 5 and 6 October with activities aimed particularly at children and families.

UNDERSTANDING AND PROTECTING THE SEA – The Barcolana58 presented by Generali programme also strengthens its commitment to understanding and protecting the marine environment, with initiatives supported by 11th Hour Racing and Schmidt Family Foundation.

The Village will open on Saturday 3 October with the launch of the major project curated by Schmidt Family Foundation: a tunnel in Piazza Unità offering an immersive journey into ocean exploration, where science, images and sound reveal surprising connections with the sea.

The Deep Blue Exploration Zone will also offer a journey into ocean discovery, with a particular focus on younger generations: 25 classes have already booked guided visits out of the 30 available slots, representing around 500 students.

On Monday 5 October at 5.30 pm, Sala Luttazzi will host “Shark Preyed. Lo squalo nel piatto”, including the Trieste premiere of the documentary exploring the trade and consumption of shark meat between Italy and Spain. The event will feature one of the two documentary makers, Andrea Spinelli, alongside researchers studying sharks. Footage will also be shown of common eagle rays recorded along the Trieste coastline during the summer, where a pilot project has been launched to encourage their coexistence with aquaculture activities. Shark meat consumption will also be the focus of a call to action at the pavilion in Piazza Unità.

The project will continue on Monday 12 October, when a new immersive room dedicated to the fin whale will open at the Museo di Archeologia subacquea in Grado, completing the skeleton recovery project launched in 2025 with the support of 11th Hour Racing and partially presented to the public during last year’s Barcolana.

BARCOLANA UN MARE DI RACCONTI – Barcolana Un Mare di Racconti returns for its eighth edition. Conceived and directed by journalist and writer Alessandro Mezzena Lona, the literary festival will bring around twenty of the most acclaimed and distinctive voices in contemporary fiction and publishing to the auditorium of Casa della Musica, Via dei Capitelli 3, from 5 to 10 October. Six days and eighteen events will take audiences on a literary journey through Italy and Europe, the sea, memory, adventure and current affairs.

Guests include Andrea Vitali, Claudia Durastanti, Elena Varvello, Francesca Clapcich, Alex Bellini, Fumettibrutti, Clara Sánchez, Ben Pastor, Viola Ardone, Emanuele Trevi and Bruno Arpaia, alongside numerous other Italian and international authors. The festival is organised with the support of Fondazione CRTrieste and the Municipality of Trieste. The full programme of Barcolana Un Mare di Racconti is available in the dedicated press release included in the press kit.

From Porto Vecchio to the Borghi, from museums to neighbourhoods, from the Karst to the Pedocin, Be Open tells the story of a Barcolana that extends far beyond the moment of the race itself: for ten days, the city becomes an open space where culture, sport, research, music, communities and the sea come together.

The full programme and all updates will be available on Barcolana’s official website and channels.