From September 4 to 20, 2026, Bergamo will once again become the international capital of landscape design with the 16th edition of the Landscape Festival – I Maestri del Paesaggio, one of Italy’s most important events dedicated to landscape culture and design.
Launched in 2011, the Festival brings landscape architects, garden designers, botanists, artists, and researchers from around the world to the heart of the city every year, transforming Bergamo into an open space for dialogue, experimentation, and creativity.
The theme chosen for 2026 is “New Renaissance – Nuovo Rinascimento”: an invitation to rediscover nature through science, art, and design, envisioning new urban models capable of addressing climate challenges and offering spaces that are more sustainable, welcoming, and designed with the community in mind.
Once again, the star of the event is Piazza Vecchia, the magnificent “living room” of the Upper Town, transformed into the Green Square through the project *Così è se vi appare* by landscape architect Cristina Mazzucchelli. Planters with mirrored surfaces interact with the geometry of the paving and the square’s historic architecture, while lush vegetation creates small, immersive spaces: a contemporary garden that plays with perspectives and reflections without obscuring the beauty of the site.
Not far away, at the Antico Lavatoio on Via Mario Lupo, the installation “Urban Haven # Rifugio Urbano,” designed by architect Katuscia Ratto, invites visitors to slow down. Vegetation, shade, light, and furnishings transform the space into a refuge in the heart of the city, designed for people to meet, linger, and rediscover the well-being that shared spaces offer.
The Festival also features exhibitions, workshops, seminars, masterclasses, and international meetings. Highlights include the Garden Masterclass with James Hitchmough on September 16, the International Seminar on September 17, andthe International Meeting of Landscape and Garden on September 18 and 19 in the Aula Magna at the University of Bergamo.
Also not to be missed is “Giardino Manifesto,” set up between Piazza Vecchia, Palazzo della Ragione, and the Angelo Mai Civic Library: an exhibition that traces fifteen years of transformations at the Landscape Festival and leads to a small garden overlooking the hills, which is normally closed to the public.
For over two weeks, Bergamo thus becomes an open-air laboratory where landscape, culture, science, and urban life come together to envision the city of the future.
