The presentations of the last ten cities under contention in the title race, Italian Capital of Culture 2028, are conducted up until this afternoon, Saturday, 27 February 2026. The gatherings, held on the 26 th and today in the Sala Spadolini of the Ministry of Culture in Rome, are the last step in this process of selection that is central to choosing the winning city.
The cities were given a chance to appear before a panel of experts to display their application dossier depicting cultural strategies, programs and territorial development vision and respond to questions posed by the jurors. The hearings were arranged in one-hour sessions, where a detailed discussion of the details of every project could be conducted. By the close of hearings, all the needed factors will be available to the jury to review the finalist projects and advise the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, on whether the city should declare the Italian Capital of Culture 2028.
It is believed that the winner should be announced by March 27, 2026. The selected city will obtain a one-million-euro grant that will be allocated to the execution of the programs mentioned in the candidacy dossier. The purpose of the Italian Capital of Culture project developed by the Ministry of Culture-Department of Cultural Activities, is the improvement of the national heritage and the promotion of planning of those cities under the cultural slogan, which is regarded as the driver of development, innovativeness and social integration.
On Thursday, the 26th of February, hearings took place on the dossier of Anagni (Frosinone). And where history is united, culture is united, Ancona with Ancona. This Catana Catania still is, Colle di Val d’Elsa (Siena) Colle28. For Everyone, Everywhere and Forli with The Paths of Beauty. On Friday, 27 Feb., Gravina in Puglia in radici al futuro, Massa in la Luna, la pietra. Where Tyrrhenian and Apuane are united in history, Mirabella Eclano (Avellino) with The Appian Way of Peoples, Sarzana with The Fearless. Sarzana of the future, and Tarquinia with Culture is flight.
