Chiara Galiazzo live in Messignadi for the Feast of San Vincenzo

Borgo Messignadi · Oppido Mamertina, Costa Viola, Calabria

12 August 2026

On Wednesday 12 August 2026 at 8 pm, Italian singer Chiara Galiazzo performs in Borgo Messignadi, a hamlet of Oppido Mamertina in Calabria, for the Feast of San Vincenzo Ferreri. The concert is organised by the San Vincenzo Ferreri committee and is part of the Aria d'estate mamertina summer programme. Born in Padua, Galiazzo won the sixth season of the Italian X Factor in 2012 with «Due respiri», written for her by Eros Ramazzotti and Luca Chiaravalli, and has twice competed at the Sanremo Festival, in 2013 with «Il futuro che sarà» and in 2015 with «Straordinario». In the summer of 2026 she is touring across Italy, with other Calabrian dates in Longobucco and Villapiana. Messignadi is a village of olive groves at 284 metres on the foothills of the Aspromonte: its August feast is the one of the papier-mâché Giants that dance through the streets, and of San Vincenzo Ferreri, whose wooden statue was found intact among the ruins of the Dominican convent.

The concert: 12 August, 8 pm, Borgo Messignadi

Chiara Galiazzo performs in Messignadi on Wednesday 12 August 2026 at 8 pm. It is the most anticipated event of the Feast of San Vincenzo Ferreri, organised by the committee of the same name and included in the Aria d'estate mamertina programme of the municipality of Oppido Mamertina.

The time is unusual for a summer concert — 8 pm, not 10 as in the squares of the town centre — and it says something about the place: Messignadi is a village of a few hundred people where the feast starts early and the square fills before dark. Four days earlier, on 8 August, the same committee runs the Aubergine Festival here with the Etno Sound concert: the feast of San Vincenzo stretches across several evenings.

Who Chiara Galiazzo is

Chiara Galiazzo was born in Padua on 12 August 1986 — the Messignadi concert falls on her birthday. She moved to Milan at nineteen, graduated in economics and worked for a financial company before music became her profession.

In 2012 she auditioned for X Factor singing «Teardrop» by Massive Attack, won over the judges and went on to win the sixth season of the show. Her debut single, «Due respiri», was written by Eros Ramazzotti and Luca Chiaravalli, entered the Italian singles chart at number one and was certified double platinum.

From there her career continued on the stages that matter: in 2013 she made her debut at the Sanremo Festival with «Il futuro che sarà», finishing eighth, and in 2015 she returned to the Ariston with «Straordinario», finishing fifth. She has released two studio albums, an EP and ten singles, with total sales certified by FIMI at more than 275,000 copies.

In the summer of 2026 she is touring Italy with an acoustic project: her Calabrian dates include Longobucco, in the Sila mountains, and Villapiana, on the Ionian coast of the Cosenza province.

The Feast of San Vincenzo Ferreri and the Giants

San Vincenzo Ferreri was a Spanish Dominican who lived between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, remembered as a great preacher. In Messignadi his veneration grew from a specific episode: the saint's wooden statue was found intact among the ruins of the Dominican convent, and since then it has become the village's devotional reference, alongside the principal patron San Nicola di Mira, celebrated on 6 December.

The heart of the summer celebrations falls around the second Sunday of August, with processions and above all with the Giants: two papier-mâché figures three metres tall, a Moorish warrior and a noblewoman, that dance through the streets during the feast. It is the same tradition found in Castellace on 14 August and in several towns of Tyrrhenian Calabria: a rite that comes before the musical part and that matters more to the village than the concert.

The zampogna, the Italian bagpipe, is also played at the Messignadi feasts: around here it still accompanies devotional moments.

Messignadi: the village of olive groves

Messignadi is a hamlet of Oppido Mamertina lying at 284 metres above sea level, at the foot of the Aspromonte, among the centuries-old olive groves that surround the Gioia Tauro plain. The local economy is still tied to olives and oil production, with the harvest done by hand.

Its origins go back to Magna Graecia: the name is thought to derive from the Greek «Messeniados» and suggests founders who arrived from Messenia, in the Peloponnese, around the fifth century BC. In the thirteenth century the village was part of the fief of Oppido under Charles of Anjou. In 1513 Cardinal Bandinello Sauli brought Dominican friars here, and they founded a convent with a church dedicated to Santa Maria della Palomba.

The Calabrian earthquake of 1783, remembered here as «the scourge», largely destroyed the settlement, which nevertheless recovered quickly. The 1908 earthquake also caused serious damage, with two deaths and thirty-four injured: the parish church of San Nicola di Mira seen today dates from 1927.

Getting there and what to know

Messignadi is reached by car from Oppido Mamertina, climbing inland from the Gioia Tauro plain. From the Gioia Tauro exit on the A2 motorway it is a little over twenty kilometres. It is a small village: the streets are narrow, and on feast nights it is worth arriving well in advance and parking at the entrance to the village.

The Aria d'estate mamertina poster lists no tickets, advance sales or prices for the concert, which takes place in a public space in the village and is promoted by the San Vincenzo Ferreri committee.

If you are staying a few days in the area, the portal has holiday homes and the businesses of Oppido Mamertina. The full summer programme is on the Aria d'estate mamertina 2026 page, while other events are in the events section.

Frequently asked questions

When does Chiara Galiazzo perform in Messignadi?

Wednesday 12 August 2026 at 8 pm, in Borgo Messignadi, a hamlet of Oppido Mamertina in the province of Reggio Calabria. The concert is part of the Feast of San Vincenzo Ferreri and of the Aria d'estate mamertina programme.

Do I need a ticket?

The programme poster lists no prices, advance sales or box office. The concert takes place in a public space in the village and is organised by the San Vincenzo Ferreri committee.

Who is Chiara Galiazzo?

An Italian singer from Padua, born on 12 August 1986. She won the sixth season of X Factor in 2012 with «Due respiri», written for her by Eros Ramazzotti and Luca Chiaravalli, and competed twice at the Sanremo Festival: in 2013 with «Il futuro che sarà», finishing eighth, and in 2015 with «Straordinario», finishing fifth.

What other Calabrian dates does she have in summer 2026?

Her summer tour also stops at Longobucco, in the Sila mountains, on 4 August, and at Villapiana, on the Ionian coast of the Cosenza province, on 15 August.

What is the Feast of San Vincenzo Ferreri in Messignadi?

It is the village's summer feast, tied to the Spanish Dominican whose wooden statue was found intact among the ruins of the convent. The celebrations centre on the second Sunday of August, with processions and the three-metre papier-mâché Giants — a Moorish warrior and a noblewoman — that dance through the streets. The village's principal patron, however, remains San Nicola di Mira, celebrated on 6 December.

Are there other events in Messignadi in those days?

Yes: on 8 August at 8 pm the San Vincenzo feast committee runs the Aubergine Festival with the Etno Sound concert, and on 3 August at 9 pm the five-a-side football final is played between the hamlets of Piminoro and Messignadi.

How do I get to Messignadi?

By car from Oppido Mamertina, climbing inland from the Gioia Tauro plain: from the Gioia Tauro exit on the A2 motorway it is a little over twenty kilometres. The village sits at 284 metres, at the foot of the Aspromonte, among olive groves.

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