by InTrieste
Trieste’s annual Bloomsday celebration, one of the world’s most prominent festivals dedicated to Irish writer James Joyce outside Ireland, returns for its 17th edition from June 13 to 16, bringing a packed program of literary discussions, performances, exhibitions and walking tours to the northeastern Italian city that the author once called home.
Organized by the Municipality of Trieste’s LETS Literature Museum and the University of Trieste, the festival explores the enduring connection between Joyce and the Adriatic port city where he lived for more than a decade and produced some of his most influential work. This year’s edition is directed artistically by Riccardo Cepach and scientifically by Laura Pelaschiar, with support from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and the patronage of the Irish Consulate General in Milan.
The opening weekend offers a diverse schedule that blends literature, theater, music and local history.
Festivities begin on Saturday morning at the historic Antico Caffè San Marco, where an immersive breakfast inspired by Joyce’s writings will be paired with a theatrical performance of Calypso, one of the episodes from Ulysses. Later in the morning, Pelaschiar will introduce Nestor, the second chapter of Joyce’s landmark novel and the thematic focus of this year’s festival.
In the afternoon, the LETS Museum will host the opening of Nestory – Joyce in Fragments, an exhibition by artist Paolo Pascutto. Drawing inspiration from ancient Greek vase painting, the exhibition combines classical imagery with references to Joyce’s texts. Elizabeth McCullough, representing the Irish Consulate General in Milan, is expected to attend the opening.
Music and theater take center stage in the evening. At the Sartorio Museum, the folk group Whisky Trail will present The Wind That Shakes the Barley, a performance combining music and readings inspired by Finnegans Wake. Meanwhile, the Rossetti Theater’s Sala Bartoli will stage Circe & Nestor, a theatrical adaptation developed by Pelaschiar and Paolo Quazzolo with performers from the University of Trieste. The day concludes with a concert by Irish folk and Celtic rock band To Loo Loose at the CX Trieste campus venue.
Sunday shifts the festival beyond museum walls and into the city’s streets, emphasizing the places that shaped Joyce’s life and work.
The morning opens with a presentation of Irish Songs: The Wind That Shakes the Barley by Lorenzo Greppi, an architect, musician and writer associated with the LETS Museum. Through ballads and stories from Irish tradition, the volume explores themes that resonate with Joyce’s literary world.
Visitors will then have the opportunity to participate in a guided tour of the Joyce Museum led by Pelaschiar, followed by a walking tour through locations associated with the writer’s years in Trieste. The itinerary traces the relationship between the city and Joyce’s evolving literary imagination.
Later in the day, Antico Caffè San Marco will host the opening of NEWSPAPER, SOAP, POTATO – A Graphic Ulysses, an exhibition by Greek artist Alexandros Karavas that reimagines Joyce’s complex novel as a graphic narrative. Antonio Sofianopulo, president of Trieste’s Greek Orthodox Community, will participate in the event.
The afternoon also includes a literary walk through the city’s public gardens, led by Cepach alongside journalist Martina Vocci and art historian Marco Favetta. The tour explores monuments and memories associated with Trieste’s literary heritage.
The weekend concludes with a second performance of Circe & Nestor at the Rossetti Theater and an evening event at the Sartorio Museum titled Ciacolopolis – The Art of Dialect in Trieste. Featuring singer-songwriter Toni Bruna, writer Luigi Nacci and Cepach, the discussion-concert examines the role of the Triestine dialect in local cultural life and its connection to Joyce’s experiences in the city.
The full festival program is available through Trieste’s LETS Literature Museum.
