The places of the Festival

The Verbano Cusio Ossola Province possesses a notable environmental, historical and scenic heritage, and the stone quarried here, used and known in many parts of the world, is the major element characterising the area.

Different types of granite, marble, gneiss, serizzo and stone of every shape and colour define the landscape of a province where the architecture is based largely on the use of stone. The extraordinary wealth of stone in the area is reflected in the large number of quarries cut out of the mountainsides, resulting in cliffs and overhangs of spectacular beauty. This context prompted the idea of using the quarries as settings for high-profile artistic events, exploiting these marvellous scenic resources to set off a virtuous process blending development, environment and culture.

Quarries are often the object of conflicting views of how the environment should be treated; but here they are given new life through the artistic lighting of their spaces.  Usually the scene of the hard labour of cutting stone, they are prepared for our performances with high professional skill and passion, as well as with considerable commitment by their proprietors, becoming transformed into nothing less than “theatres of stone”.

Tones on the Stones audiences have shown increasing appreciation of this new way of experiencing culture and art, in close harmony with the strength of nature and of stone.