This is a far cry from the 21 Italian cities that applied in 2013 to become the European Capital of Culture in 2019. But it is very likely that when the call for applications is released, many other cities will enter the race. Today we focus on the city of Piacenza, which in recent days formally launched its candidacy, first announced in 2025.

Here the press release.

There comes a moment in the process of bidding to become a European Capital of Culture when a city begins to speak not about itself, but to itself.

For Piacenza, that moment took shape on May 19, 2026, within the halls of Palazzo Farnese, where for the first time cultural operators, local associations, and institutions sat together to address the same questions: what does Piacenza want to be over the next seven years, and what is it ready to say to Europe?

The occasion marked the public launch of the city’s bid for European Capital of Culture 2033, promoted by the Municipality of Piacenza in collaboration with ReteCulturaPiacenza.

The bid, announced to the city in September 2025 during the third edition of the Festival del Pensare Contemporaneo, thus enters its participatory development phase: following Matera in 2019 and Nova Gorica/Gorizia in 2025, the title will return to an Italian city in 2033.

The Ministry of Culture will open the national call for applications at the end of 2026; the first application is expected in the fall of 2027, with the final decision scheduled for the end of 2028.

Among the Italian cities already in the running are, in addition to Piacenza, Turin, Norcia, Viterbo, and Syracuse: it will be a seven-year race, and Piacenza has chosen to tackle it early, building the application together with those who create culture every day within the city.

Piacenza chose to embark on this journey well in advance because a bid for European Capital of Culture cannot be improvised or put together in just a few months. It is a long-term endeavor that requires vision, the ability to work as a team, and above all, an awareness of the cultural, human, and creative heritage that a city already possesses. In recent years, Piacenza has begun to open up more vigorously to the national and international stage: the Klimt at the Ricci Oddi Museum, which traveled as far as Seoul; the Etruscan liver, the star of the major exhibition in San Francisco; the Festival of Contemporary Thought, which brought hundreds of guests and thousands of people to the city; the expansion of the Municipal Theater’s program; the exhibitions at Palazzo Farnese and XNL; and the promotion of religious heritage in collaboration with the Diocese, from the Cathedral to Santa Maria di Campagna.

Part of this journey is also the new strategic plan for territorial marketing, created precisely to harness the energy, expertise, and excellence of Piacenza.

The visit of President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella to Piacenza two years ago was one of the most powerful symbols of a city that is growing in its ability to be part of major cultural, institutional, and international networks.

Today we are not simply presenting a cultural project: we are saying that Piacenza wants to learn to view itself with greater ambition, aware that it has so much to offer Italy and Europe.

The bid was conceived and is supported by ReteCulturaPiacenza, the institutional network that has long been working together in the region, bringing together the Municipality of Piacenza, the Fondazione di Piacenza e Vigevano, the Fondazione Teatri di Piacenza, the Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio, the Province of Piacenza, and the Emilia Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Emilia-Romagna Region. This is not a coalition formed for the occasion, but a well-established mechanism with an ongoing cultural program that the bid will now expand and bequeath to the city in the coming years: from the Festival of Contemporary Thought to the major international exhibitions at the Ricci Oddi, XNL, and Palazzo Farnese, including the opera and concert season at the Teatro Municipale, urban regeneration projects through street art, neighborhood-based initiatives, and collaborative work with the Diocese to promote the city’s artistic and spiritual heritage.

The bid dossier will be developed by the curatorial team that has been guiding the city for four years through the Festival of Contemporary Thought, coordinated by Alessandro Fusacchia; the direction is entrusted to Linda Di Pietro, a cultural project manager with experience in major bid processes and European project planning. This choice is no accident: the dossier was intentionally entrusted to those who are already actively engaged in culture in Piacenza—bringing a well-established working community into the bid,

The Meetings

Tuesday, May 19, 2026 – The bid process kicks off

The day began behind closed doors with a meeting between ReteCulturaPiacenza and ReteMuseiPiacenza, dedicated to an initial update on the process and the introduction of the working group.

Immediately afterward, the true heart of the afternoon began: the first participatory workshop open to local cultural professionals. Tables were arranged for maximum diversity, with facilitators guiding the dialogue, and three thematic threads holding everything together: Europe as a Horizon, Culture, Margins and Possibilities, and Future and Desires.  At the end, a collective summary: an initial map of what Piacenza wants to convey about itself to Europe.

In the evening, the third session: “Capitals in Comparison,” a public meeting open to citizens as part of an initiative designed to involve the city from the very beginning, bringing together culture, participation, ideas, and a European vision, featuring three guests who played leading roles in pivotal experiences for the European Capitals of Culture: Paolo Verri (Matera 2019), Romina Kocina (GO!2025 Nova Gorica/Gorizia), and Rossella Tarantino, an expert on the ECoC program and former evaluator for the European Commission, moderated by Linda Di Pietro, director of the bid.

At the close of the meeting, the logo that will accompany this journey toward the bid was unveiled; Nicola Bellotti of Blacklemon explained its concept and development.

The next public event for the candidacy will take place as part of the fourth edition of the Festival of Contemporary Thought, “Attraversiamo,” scheduled to be held in Piacenza from September 24 to 27, 2026. This will be an opportunity to share with the city the work that has begun today and to further expand the process of listening and co-design.