The new edition of Matera Cielo Stellato will be held on Saturday 27 September 2025, starting at 7.30 pm. This collective action turns off the lights in the Sassi and turns on wonder, transforming the heart of the city into a shared space for contemplation and listening.
The event, promoted by the Municipality of Matera and the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation, is part of the run-up to Matera Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2026. This is not just a symbolic or evocative event: Matera Cielo Stellato is a civil and poetic gesture which, amid soft lighting and rediscovered silence, prepares the city for a new year as capital, making it once again a laboratory of culture, vision and community.
The performance will last about an hour and will involve the streets, houses and neighbourhoods of Sasso Barisano in a visual dialogue between the urban landscape and the sky. Throughout the event, vehicular traffic will be prohibited in the area, but pedestrians will still be allowed to pass through. Citizens and visitors will be able to watch the ritual from one of the many panoramic viewpoints or immerse themselves in the alleys of Sasso Barisano, walking among thousands of candles and small lights. For safety and production reasons, Piazza Duomo will be temporarily closed to the public.
The event will be directed from Piazza Duomo, where the sound and narrative flow that will accompany the entire experience will begin.
The soundtrack will be entrusted to Chiara Lacertosa’s electric piano, while the narrating voice of actor Antonello Vivilecchia will guide the audience on a journey of memory and imagination. Music and words will alternate in a delicate and powerful interweaving: on the one hand, pieces selected to evoke atmospheres of suspension and listening; on the other, historical readings that will recount how this ritual of light has marked significant moments in the collective life of Matera in different eras. For the texts in Arabic, Naziha Fehri’s voice will accompany the audience, intertwining the poetic dimension of the event with the Mediterranean spirit of 2026. The lighting of the candles will be announced – as it was in ancient times – by a trumpet blast, performed by musician Gianpaolo Matera.
Among the texts proposed is an excerpt from L’homme qui venait du désert, a poem by Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun, one of the leading French-language authors in the Arab world. The passage pays tribute to his connection with Morocco and Tétouan, a city that shares with Matera the title of Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2026. The desert is described as an inner landscape, made up of silence, submerged cities and impregnable nights: an image that recalls the submerged lands of the inner Mediterranean. This voice will be accompanied by that of the Arab poet Nāzik al-Malā’ika, with the passage E ci resta il mare (And we are left with the sea), which will be read in the original language. In these verses, the sea reflects the colours of the sky and changes like dreams and thoughts: an image that resonates with Matera Cielo Stellato (Matera Starry Sky), where the city is transformed into an inverted constellation, mirroring the sky.
We would like to thank the Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina for its invaluable assistance in organising the event. In the event of rain, Matera Cielo Stellato will be postponed and rescheduled for a new date, which will be announced at a later date through the official channels of the Municipality of Matera and the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation.
Matera Cielo Stellato® is a registered trademark of F. Foschino, S. Tarasco and V. Cappuccio.
