Il Giardino delle Esperidi Festival

An itinerant festival in the landscape, a universal meeting place inspired by the land, trees, valleys, villages and woods of San Genesio.

Esperidi are art forms which draw their influences from travels, discoveries and wonder. They are an invitation to set off on a journey, to see, hear, feel, imagine. At Esperidi nature, with its immense beauty, becomes at the same time stage and play. This is a special event which creates a union between Art, in its various forms, Nature, spectators and community.

The shows which form the Esperidi festival are performed on over ten stages set up in beautiful buildings and idyllic corners of the natural landscape. We choose different locations every year, accompanying our spectators on a tour of the area. The places where the festival takes place are evocative natural landscapes, the woods of chestnut, mulberry or acacia trees, the wonderful villas, the ancient farmhouses and centuries-old churches of Brianza. Over its fourteen editions the festival has involved ten local councils, has included over three hundred performances, including seventy first performances. Over the course of these events Campsirago has played host to companies from all over Italy as well as forty international companies. From 2005 to the present, Campsirago Residenza has produced thirty-two original shows, including poetry readings, theatre, dance and site-specific performances.

The heart of Il Giardino delle Esperidi is theatre in the landscape, a movement which has its roots in antiquity and represents one of the most innovative currents in contemporary theatre. Each work is adapted and created specifically for the natural landscape in which it is to be performed, becoming a unique and non-repeatable event.

The Festival takes place every year in June and July an allows the public to visit normally closed venues, like Casa Gola, which belonged to the painter Emilio Gola and is still owned by his family, Villa Sommi Picenardi, the San Genesio hermitage, the church of San Michele on Monte Barro, Villa Bertarelli, as well as the open air stages in Palazzo Gambassi.

In 2015 Il Giardino delle Esperidi was awarded the EFFE Label by the European Festivals Association (EFA). This award is given to festivals based on three criteria: artistic commitment, involvement of local communities, and European or global outlook.