Information
Ypsigrock Festival returns for its 29th anniversary between 6 and 9 August 2026. As usual, the event takes place within its natural setting: Castelbuono, a Sicilian town in the province of Palermo. THE FESTIVAL Ypsigrock is Italy's first boutique festival, now a European reference point for fans of indie culture. The festival was founded in 1997 in Castelbuono, a Sicilian village just over an hour and a half's drive from Palermo, about ten kilometres from the sea and set in a splendid valley, on the initiative of a few local young people passionate about indie and alternative rock music. The initial goal was to bring their favourite artists all the way to Castelbuono, a place of evocative charm but far from the nerve centres of the music market and decidedly outside the usual tour routes of the main international artists. The aim was to organise a festival inspired by the winning formula of international events, but loading it with a strong personal character that reflected and enhanced a territory as special as that of the Madonie. Today, with over twenty years of experience behind it, Ypsigrock has become a certainty and a model on the international scene and is perceived as an unmissable event for its artistic quality and for the beauty of the most enchanting corners of Castelbuono where it comes to life. THE EXPERIENCE Internationally, "boutique festivals" are music festivals with attendance below 10,000 people: eccentric projects, animated by the personal and original touch of their organisers, able to stand out for the intimacy and sense of community that is created in the locations that host them. Every year the ypsini, the people who gravitate around the microcosm of Ypsigrock, mingle with the community of Castelbuono for four days, enhancing the Ypsi & Love spirit, that intimate family atmosphere, marked by a genuine attitude of shared fun, which makes the Ypsigrock experience unique and inimitable. THE ARTISTIC DIRECTION By insisting on strongly identity-driven artistic and organisational choices, Ypsigrock has increased its prestige on the European live music events scene, where it is particularly appreciated for the evocative atmosphere of its venues and for its refined lineups, always built around the rule of Ypsi Once: you can step onto the festival's stages only once in a lifetime under the same moniker. Over the years many artists who had never played in Italy before have come to Castelbuono, performing, in almost all cases, as a national exclusive. Among the most prestigious bands who have written the history of the festival are The National, Spiritualized, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Editors, Mogwai, Beach House, Daughter, Moderat, Belle & Sebastian, Primal Scream, Ride, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Caribou, Dinosaur Jr., Mudhoney, Cigarettes After Sex and many other international and Italian talents. Ypsigrock was also the stage of the Italian debut of great names in world music, including Alt-J, AURORA, Jon Hopkins, Fontaines D.C., Loyle Carner, SOHN, Django Django, Aldous Harding, Hinds, Fat White Family. The great unanimous approval of fans and specialist critics regarding the quality of the festival has allowed Ypsigrock to reach prestigious milestones. From 2011, for eight consecutive years, it was nominated at the European Festival Awards (EFA) as Best Small Festival. To date Ypsigrock remains the only Italian festival ever to have been nominated at the UK Festival Awards in the Best Overseas Festival category (2013, 2016, 2019). In 2015 Ypsigrock was voted best festival in Italy at the Onstage Awards. In 2016, for the first time ever, an Italian festival made it onto the shortlists of the European Festival Awards thanks to Ypsigrock, selected among the best events of the old continent as Best Small Festival. A milestone repeated in 2018 and 2024. In 2018 Ypsigrock was awarded during the Sanremo Festival as best festival in Italy according to the Superclassifica MEI, dedicated to Italian operators in the music sector. THE LOCATION Since its very first edition, the festival has been hosted in some enchanting places of Castelbuono, an evocative medieval hilltop village set within the Madonie Park, a few km from the soft beaches of Cefalù and the wild rocky coasts of Pollina. Thanks to its natural beauty and its rich historical, architectural and artistic heritage, Castelbuono has become a beloved destination for both Italian and foreign tourists. Ypsigrock is the ideal place to spend a fantastic summer weekend, among authentic pearls of the Mediterranean and the breathtaking Madonie mountains, helped by the excellent quality of the local food and wine offering and the strong interaction between the people of Castelbuono and the ypsini. Ypsigrock is a reality that makes authenticity its distinctive stylistic hallmark. It is an unusual and dynamic experience that over these long years has completely reinterpreted the concept of festival in Italy, enhancing the potential of a territory rich in stories, with unique style and refinement. For many, arriving in Castelbuono means discovering the heart of an unexpected and spectacular Sicily: a journey through the artistic, natural and cultural beauty of the island. THE STAGES The heart of so much wonder is in Piazza Castello, where international artists perform in a fascinating natural amphitheatre. The Ypsi Once Stage, Ypsigrock's main stage, is in fact the jewel of Piazza Castello, enclosed between the ancient Medieval Arch, the immense staircase and the imposing manor of the Ventimiglia family, an area rich in history and poetic beauty. The intimate size of this thrilling setting makes Ypsigrock an intimate and welcoming festival. Features further enhanced by the wonderful eighteenth-century Cloister of the former Convent of San Francesco, which embraces the Ypsi & Love Stage, the festival's second stage. And among the festival's most exclusive experiences one cannot fail to mention the intimate Mr. Y Stage at the Centro Sud, enclosed within the former Church of the Crucifix, a beautiful Baroque church located on Castelbuono's main street. Inside the camping area is finally located the Cuzzocrea Stage, Ypsigrock's fourth stage dedicated to the festival's aftershows, with parties and DJ sets. Further pop-up stages are located along the streets of the town and inside the courtyard of the Castle, at the Civic Museum of Castelbuono, with which a collaboration has been established since 2014, thanks to which during the evening concerts at the Ypsi Once Stage, a video created specially for the occasion by an artist chosen and selected by the Civic Museum is projected onto the facade of the Castle. In this way the architectural monument symbolising Castelbuono is transformed during the festival evenings into an enormous and evocative visual surface. Moreover, again in partnership with the Civic Museum, since 2014 every year the atrium of the Castle has hosted one of the shows in the festival's official line up, for a very special acoustic event. THE CAMPING In the equipped area of San Focà, immersed in a spectacular pine forest of the Madonie Park, the Ypsicamping is set up, the campsite entirely built and organised by the festival during the days of the event, which welcomes all spectators who wish to combine music with moments of healthy relaxation in close contact with nature. INFO & TICKETS: DICE