Philosophy serves as a lens to understand contemporary phenomena, often complex and contradictory, balancing individual sensitivity with collective imaginations. This is the core of Popsophia, the festival directed by Lucrezia Ercoli, returning to Ancona from May 8-10, 2026. For years, the event has pioneered a hybrid format blending philosophy, music, and pop culture. Its upcoming edition will be dedicated to the theme of “Melancholia,” one of the most pervasive and significant emotions of our time. The festival will be hosted in several prestigious venues in Ancona, including the Teatro delle Muse, the Teatro Ridotto, and the Pinacoteca Comunale Podesti.
This initiative is part of Ancona’s bid to become the Italian Capital of Culture 2028, strengthening Popsophia’s role as a catalyst for cultural reflection and production. In this perspective, the festival will expand its reach into the urban space, engaging a broader audience and reinforcing its widespread presence throughout the city.
The theme of melancholy will be explored not only as an emotional state but also as a profound historical and cultural category. Starting from Aristotle’s concept of “black bile,” its evolution will be analyzed through to contemporary manifestations of sadness on social media and in digital culture. While in ancient and Renaissance thought melancholy was often associated with creative genius, today it appears as an ambivalent condition, oscillating between critical sensibility and the risk of paralysis, between personal experience and the collective construction of the imaginary. The festival will investigate these dynamics also through the languages of pop culture, interpreting melancholy as a shared aesthetic, evident in everything from trap music to memes, TV series to video games, and even to forms of “sad content” that transform sadness into narration and spectacle.
At the heart of the program, as per tradition, will be the “philoshows”: Popsophia’s distinctive format that interweaves philosophical reflection, live music, and audiovisual montages. The opening, on Friday, May 8, will feature a “philosophical-musical Overture” dedicated to jazz, celebrating the centenary of the birth of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Led by Massimo Donà and Giacomo Fronzi, and accompanied by the Factory Jazz Quintet, the discussions will explore the “blue” of jazz as an expression of melancholy, focusing on the iconic album Kind of Blue.
On Saturday, May 9, the festival will shift its focus to Italian song with Anima fragile. Filosofia di Vasco Rossi (Fragile Soul. Philosophy of Vasco Rossi). This event, guided by journalist Leo Turrini, will delve into the existential and melancholic dimension of the celebrated singer-songwriter Vasco Rossi’s work.
The closing event, on Sunday, May 10, will be dedicated to Tristezza per favore vai via. Mina, Vanoni e la malinconia (Sadness, please go away. Mina, Vanoni and Melancholy), a tribute to the voices of Mina and Ornella Vanoni. With the participation of philosopher Ilaria Gaspari, the event will further explore the emotional and narrative construction of melancholy within Italian song.
In addition to the performances, the festival will also host an immersive exhibition at the Pinacoteca Podesti, further expanding the dialogue between different art forms and exhibition formats. The official image for the 2026 edition is an artwork by sculptor Paolo Delle Monache, and the event continues to receive the renewed patronage of the Ministry of Culture. All events will offer free admission, with a mixed system of reservation and open access.
