“La luna e i calanchi” (The moon and the badlands) is a festival of poetry, music and other arts that takes place every year in the summer in Aliano, a small town in Southern Italy in Basilicata famous for having hosted the forced stay of the writer Carlo Levi (1902-1975) during the years of fascism. Levi's book "Christ Stopped at Eboli" (1945), set in Aliano and which describes the inhuman living conditions of the peasant population forgotten by the institutions of the State to which "not even the word of Christ seems to have ever reached ", is considered one of the most important novels of twentieth-century Italian literature.
For a few days, the small town in the province of Matera comes alive with a quiet and enthusiastic crowd to attend the artists' performances, but also to witness how culture can revitalize villages in marginal areas and at high risk of depopulation. The depopulation of the Apennines is a phenomenon that has consolidated over time. From central north to southern Italy, inland areas have to deal with desertification and the constant aging of the population. At the same time, however, those territories are endowed with a cultural and environmental heritage that can generate jobs, revive communities and production centres.
Conceived and animated by Franco Arminio, today one of the best known and most active Italian poets, the festival saw its twelfth edition in 2022 and a program full of activities, theatrical performances, exhibitions, concerts, workshops and poetry readings at all hours of the day and night that offered the numerous participants a lot of fun, joy but above all a lot of food for thought.