Notte di Fiaba 2027: Don Quixote comes to Riva del Garda

Riva del Garda, August 30, 2026 – "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha" will be the star of the 2027 Notte di Fiaba in Riva del Garda.

A journey into one of the most celebrated literary masterpieces of all time, still capable today of speaking to both adults and children through three words that have always been part of the Notte di Fiaba’s spirit: imagination, dreams, and travel.
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Don Quixote is, above all, an invitation to look at the world through different eyes: to transform reality through imagination, to pursue a dream even when it seems impossible, and to set out on a path, because every journey is also a way to discover ourselves and the world around us. This is the profound meaning of Cervantes' work: never stop dreaming, even when reality tells us to give up; have the courage to imagine a different world and set out in search of it. In the only apparent contrast between Don Quixote's reality and his fantasy lies a question that remains highly relevant: is the dreamer truly mad, or is it the world that has stopped dreaming that is mad?
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In Riva del Garda, this story finds a particularly evocative natural backdrop. The lake, the mountains, the wind, the streets, and the open horizons become places of travel and adventure, while the Riva landscape ideally transforms into Don Quixote's fantastical La Mancha. The waters of Lake Garda can become the border to cross, the mountains the giants to challenge, and the town's squares and streets the stages of a journey where reality and imagination meet.
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Considered by many to be the first modern novel, "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha" has cemented the image of this eccentric knight fighting windmills in the collective imagination. But how many people really know it? This is the perfect opportunity to introduce Cervantes' work to a wider audience and help pass the story of Don Quixote on to new generations.
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With Don Quixote, the Notte di Fiaba invites Riva del Garda to become a grand open-air theater for a few days: a place where dreaming is still possible, imagination becomes reality, and every road can lead to a new adventure.
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Because, after all, every great journey begins with a dream.