Reggio Emilia 2025: the Internazionale Kids festival returns in May

From 9 to 11 May 2025 the fifth edition of the Internazionale Kids festival will be held in Reggio Emilia. 

The event, promoted by the magazine of the same name that aims to inform boys and girls aged 7 to 13, this year explores a wide range of topics, from Syria to the k-pop phenomenon, from activists in the Middle East to Norwegian writers, to the delicate topic of forests, to popular graphics, poetry, Chinese social networks, glaciers, calligraphy and comics.

The festival, which will involve no less than six locations in the city (Piazza Martiri del 7 luglio, the Palazzo dei Musei, the Cavallerizza Theatre and the Valli Theatre, the Mapei Stadium and the Library of the Arts), aims to create active listening and involvement in the public from the age of eight upwards, but is open to people of all ages. The meetings, which last about 50 minutes, do not require booking and are free of charge, as are the workshops; except for the events organised at the Mapei Stadium, for which booking is required on Eventbrite.

Meetings. The wide-ranging programme, spread over the days from morning to evening, ranges from the discussion of human rights to illustration: to open the dances, on Friday 9 May, five meetings with the editorial staff of Internazionale Kids reserved for some schools in Reggio Emilia and its province, followed by institutional greetings and the presence of Alberto Emiletti and Martina Recchiuti of Internazionale Kids. Then the comic strip Carlotta superflash, published in instalments on Internazionale Kids, will be presented. It tells the story of Carlotta, a little girl who is bequeathed a camera by her sister who is leaving for studies in FInland. Also on the same day, Ivan Canu's illustrated and musical account of the history of k-pop and the screening of the Norwegian documentaries Le gemelle veneziane by Kaspar Astrup Schröder and Una bambina all'attacco by Camilla Magid and Anam Abbas, both at the Teatro Cavallerizza.

On Saturday 10 May, the topics discussed are the environment and artificial intelligence, accompanied by a talk with Giovanni Ansaldo on how to construct the perfect interview and Catherine Cornet's account of the eight million Syrians who have fled war and dictatorship in the hope of returning to their country. For film lovers, Luigi De Angelis explains how to become a director and how to tell a story on screen or on stage, while sports fans can take a half-hour trip from the changing rooms to the stands of the Mapei Stadium to discover the secrets of a stadium. 

Sunday 11 May is instead focused on discovering what it means to be an activist today, with Francesca Gnetti telling stories of resistance of women and girls in the Middle East, and on the behind-the-scenes of the editorial staff of Internazionale Kids who get involved by answering any curiosity of the public starting from how the magazine was born up to the criteria behind the selection of the articles to be proposed.

Workshops. From Friday 9 to Sunday 11 May, the busy calendar proposed by Internazionale Kids will satisfy the interests of all and sundry through the activation of workshops dealing with the themes of ecology and the climate crisis (organised by Eduiren), nature (organised by the Master's Degree Course in Primary Education Sciences of the Department of Education and Human Sciences of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) and sport, with a particular focus on rugby and its values (in collaboration with E80 Group and Valorugby Emilia). Art enthusiasts are offered the chance to put their talents into practice with drawing workshops offered by Smed - Scrivere a mano nell'era digitale (Handwriting in the digital age) or by participating in the creation of a comic strip.

Fondazione Reggio Children also joins the initiative and proposes the workshop Boats on a special mission organised by Remida, a research project on sustainability and creativity starting with industrial waste materials. The key idea is that every object, especially if destined for the scrap heap, is actually a precious educational resource for schools, institutions and citizens. In May, during this special opportunity to exchange information and ideas, the star objects are candy wrappers, newspaper, white or squared papers that are taken and transformed into a fleet with which to deliver an important message to the planet.

All festival venues are barrier-free and some events are translated into Italian sign language (Lis) for an increasingly accessible festival. You can consult the programme with all the details at internazionale.it/kids

The Internazionale Kids festival in Reggio Emilia is promoted by Internazionale Kids, Internazionale, the Municipality of Reggio Emilia and the Fondazione Palazzo Magnani. It is realised thanks to the sponsor Iren, with the support of E80 Group, Valorugby Emilia, Mapei Stadium, Generazione S, Pianoterra Foundation, Save the Children, Tetra Pak. It is in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden, Flanders Representation in Italy, Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de musique française, Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia, Fondazione I Teatri Reggio Emilia, Fondazione Reggio Children, Pause - Atelier dei Sapori, Remida, Fondazione per lo Sport del Comune di Reggio Emilia, Farmacie Comunali Riunite, Reggio Emilia Città Senza Barriere, Laboratorio Aperto dei Chiostri di San Pietro.