Three days of music, art and nature on the Riviera dei Tramonti - 11, 12 and 13 August 2026 in Lamezia Terme (CZ)

There is a festival in Calabria that every year transforms a lonely Tyrrhenian beach into one of the most vibrant stages in the south. It is called Colour Fest - for many simply the “colour festival” - and has over the years become a reference point for those seeking an authentic music experience in Southern Italy, far from the mainstream and surrounded by breathtaking scenery.

From 11 to 13 August 2026, the fourteenth edition - Colour Fest 14 - back on the Lungomare Falcone e Borsellino in Lamezia Terme, in the heart of the newly established Riviera of Sunsets, with a programme combining international artists, avant-garde Italian proposals and the discovery of the Calabrian territory. This year's tagline says it all: “summer on a solitary beach”.

A festival of colours and sounds: the 2026 line-up

The Color Fest is not just a music festival: it is a festival of colours, sounds and contaminations (festival colours, festival colours - as so many from all over Europe seek it). The 2026 edition brings to the stage names that make the hearts of music lovers beat faster.

Day 1 - Tuesday 11 August

The first evening opens with the electronic and cinematic atmospheres of Apparat live version, one of the most respected names in the global electronic scene. It continues with the C'mon Tigre, a project fusing world music, jazz and electronics, and with a unique set of James Holden & Wacław Zimpel, an encounter between electronic minimalism and the Polish instrumental tradition. Opening the day, Gaia Banfi with its refined songwriting.

Day 2 - Wednesday 12 August

The second day starts at dawn - literally. Cosmo offers its now legendary concert in the morning, from 8 to 11 a.m., an immersive experience of music and sunlight that has made history at Italian festivals. In the afternoon and evening they alternate The Zen Circus, Tuscan band that needs no introduction, All Phenomena with its experimental pop, the Dutch Yin Yin with their psychedelic thai-funk sounds, and the double set of Nico Arezzo e Anna Castile, two of the most interesting voices on the new Sicilian scene.

Day 3 - Thursday 13 August

Grand finale with the British Django Django, between synth-pop, krautrock and irresistible melodies, and the Deadletter, an explosive post-punk band from London. From Italy come La Niña, a revelation of contemporary songwriting, and Mai Mai, one of the most extreme and fascinating noise-ritual projects on the Italian experimental scene.

These are 14 of over 20 artists that will make up the complete programme. More additions are on the way.

Why Color Fest is the festival of the summer in Calabria

Those looking for a festivals in Calabria in August - a August festival which is more than just a concert - finds in Color Fest a complete experience. This is what makes it unique in the southern Italian festivals:

Location. The Lungomare Falcone e Borsellino promenade, with its pine forest as a natural backdrop and the sunsets over the Tyrrhenian coast that have given the Riviera dei Tramonti its name, is one of the most evocative of all the calabria festivals. Live music with feet almost in the sand, from late afternoon to late night.

Accessibility. Lamezia Terme is the geographical heart of Calabria, with an international airport, railway station and motorway junction. The festival is just minutes away from all these hubs, with a dedicated shuttle service. This makes the Color Fest the calabria festival easier to reach for those coming from outside the region - and the numbers confirm this: in the last editions, more than 60% of the audience came from outside Calabria.

Camping and the immersive experience. Starting with the 2025 edition, the festival introduced a dedicated camping area at Camping Ulisse, turning the event into a multi-day residential experience. Yoga in the morning, stand-up comedy in the early afternoon, concerts from late afternoon to night, and after-shows at local lidos. A festival at Calabria that becomes a holiday.

Networking with the territory. Artisan market with over 30 regional and national exhibitors, food and wine excellence at km0 in cooperation with Coldiretti, eco-tours among vineyards and olive groves with Legambiente, guided tours in the historic centre of Lamezia Terme. The Color Fest is not an event dropped from above: it is an ecosystem involving bathing establishments, restaurants, associations, schools and local institutions.

The Supernova Contest: open stage for emerging bands

One of the most distinctive elements of Color Fest is Supernova, the music contest dedicated to emerging bands and independent artists from all over Italy. Every year about 400 bands and emerging artists enter the contest, which includes selections and live finals not only in Calabria but also in Rome and Bologna.

Winners perform on the festival stage alongside the headliners, gaining national visibility and a real opportunity for growth. If you are looking for music contests for emerging groups in Italy, Supernova is one of the most established and respected realities. A springboard that over the years has contributed to the emergence of talents who later landed on much bigger stages.

Not just August: Color Fest all year round

The Color Fest does not end with the three summer days. The association “What Are Clouds” APS, which has organised the festival since 2013, carries out cultural activities throughout the year.

The Calabrian Music Festival on Easter Monday. For those looking for what to do in Easter in Calabria, for years, the Color Fest has offered a spring musical event dedicated to the Calabrian scene, a way of celebrating local talent at a time of year when the region is beginning to wake up.

Winter Session in December, i training workshops in September (press office, artistic direction, festival organisation), the Color Fest Kids of electronic music in schools, the university internships recognised by Sapienza and Alma Mater of Bologna. A permanent cultural project that has built, edition after edition, a community.

Be Color: more than a festival, a way of experiencing Calabria

Be Colour. Being colour. This has been the philosophy behind the festival since the first edition. The name also recalls Be Colour, the project born in 2023 from the collaboration between Colour Fest e Be Alternative Festival, which combined more than ten years of territorial experience brought to the Calabrian stage the Franz Ferdinand with a live show that remains in the memory of those who were there. In 2024 Be Color returned with two dates between Camigliatello Silano and Maida. Today that collaboration is no longer active, but its legacy - the ambition to bring international artists to Calabria and build events of the highest level - lives on in Color Fest, which continues to grow edition after edition.

The Color Fest was born in 2013 with the idea that Calabria was not a place to leave, but a territory from which to build something beautiful. In thirteen consecutive editions, from 2013 to 2025, artists such as Franz Ferdinand, Editors, Brunori Sas, Cosmo, Marlene Kuntz, Afterhours, Fulminacci, Nu Genea, Iosonouncane, Verdena, Nada, Colapesce Dimartino, Motta, La Rappresentante di Lista, Donatella Rettore and dozens of others.

The festival gained recognition and coverage in national and international newspapers - from La Repubblica to Vogue, from Sky Arte to Lonely Planet, from ANSA to MTV News - with over 250 documented press mentions. A result that places it among the most important Southern Italy music festivals and a benchmark in the calabria festivals.

Practical information - Colour Fest 14 (2026)

When: 11, 12 and 13 August 2026

Where: Lungomare Falcone e Borsellino - Riviera dei Tramonti, Lamezia Terme (CZ), Calabria

Organisation: Association “What are the Clouds” APS

How to get there:

• Lamezia Terme International Airport (10 min)
• Lamezia Terme Centrale railway station (shuttle service)
• A2 Mediterranean motorway, Lamezia Terme junction

Partial lineup (14 of 20+ artists announced):

Color Fest - the festival in Calabria where music meets the sea, colours meet the sunset, and the South becomes the centre of everything.