Pistoia is the Italian Book Capital 2026. The official announcement was made this morning at a ceremony held in Rome in the presence of the Jury of experts and representatives of the finalist municipalities. The event was attended by Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, Director General Libraries and Cultural Institutes Paola Passarelli, President of the Center for Books and Reading Giuseppe Iannaccone, and President of the Center’s Scientific Council and Jury Adriano Monti Buzzetti.
The official motivation emphasized “the strong coherence of the project with great attention to the needs of society and current issues such as artificial intelligence and climate change, fielding more than 1,500 initiatives, from thematic exhibitions to original initiatives, with the involvement of unconventional spaces for reading, such as restaurants or sports facilities to literally ’invade’ the everyday with the book.”
The five finalist cities vying for the title were Carmagnola (Turin) with the project Identity, Books and Territory, Perugia with Drops. Water becomes a voice, Pistoia with Pistoia: the adventure of reading, the courage to build the future, Nardò (Lecce) with Nardò Capital of Regenerative Reading: Territories, Community, Future , and Tito (Potenza) with A Reading that Regenerates. Tito 2026, between identity, diversity, community and future.
Pistoia will receive a grant of 500,000 euros to implement the cultural program outlined in the bid dossier. The initiative, promoted by the Ministry of Culture, is part of the broader national project aimed at promoting reading, enhancing the publishing supply chain and strengthening social cohesion by encouraging the active participation of citizens through books as a tool for growth and sharing.
“We are honored by this recognition and we will be up to the task we have been given, the result of two decades of work,” Mayor Alessandro Tomasistressed. "Our candidacy dossier convinced the jury, and now we are ready to turn it into reality, building together with bookstores, schools, publishers and citizens a year full of events, projects and initiatives that will make Pistoia a national reference point for books and reading."
“We thank the Ministry of Culture, the Center for Books and Reading, and the jury for putting their trust in our city,” highlights Councillor for Culture Benedetta Menichelli. “We are confident that we will live up to that trust, because we will be fully committed as early as tomorrow to implement what will surely be an extraordinary collective adventure in 2026.”
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| Pistoia is the Italian Capital of the Book 2026 |
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