Artists and events in Polignano

ARTISTS

Nonna Anna Holiday Home is located in the centre of Polignano a Mare, which is the birthplace of two illustrious personalities.

The first one is Domenico Modugno (alias “Mister Volare”), one of the greatest Italian artists of all time, who became a world icon of the Italian culture thanks to his song “Nel blu dipinto di blu”, better known as “Volare”. Polignano dedicated a statue to him, you can admire it near the highest point of the cliff.

The other pride of the city is Pino Pascali, an artist, sculptor and scenographer, who obtained national and international acclaim for his works, which are exhibited in Milan, Rome, New York, Paris and Vienna. For him, Polignano has founded the Pino Pascali Museum of Contemporary Art.

Polignano a Mare is also the home of a contemporary artist, Guido Lupori, better known as Guido ”Il Flâneur”, the poet who gave another distinctive feature to Polignano, with his verses written on the walls, doors and stairs of the characteristic houses of the Old Town, in which he declares his love for the sea. «Here, my twin sea has magnified my freedom» is one of his best-known verses.

Polignano is also the set chosen for the first successful movie of the popular Apulian comic actor and director Checco Zalone, where he shows its strengths and weaknesses in a comic key, thus giving the town even more notoriety.

But Checco Zalone is not the only one. Many Italian and Hollywood art directors have chosen the wonderful cliffs and white alleys of Polignano a Mare, among which we remember the popular American soap opera “Beautiful”.

EVENTS

Every summer, Polignano a Mare hosts countless visitors and V.I.P. weddings, concerts and cultural events that attract myriads of personalities known both nationally and internationally, including journalists, politicians, writers, art directors, actors, singers, dancers and athletes, thanks to important and awaited events, such as the “Book Fair” (“Fiera del Libro”) and the famous international sporting event that attracts visitors from all over the world, the “Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series”. This spectacular summer diving competition is characterized by a curious peculiarity in Polignano: to compete, the athletes cross the private house of an elderly resident and dive from its terrace about 30 meters above the sea!

To view the calendar of events, please visit the website of the Municipality of Polignano a Mare.

WINTER AND CHRISTMAS

For nature lovers, Polignano a Mare offers breathtaking emotions even in winter, when the sea is stormy and the waves crash against the cliff, creating white sea foam fireworks, which slowly fall in the sea like leaves of a weeping willow.

Furthermore, let’s not forget Christmas in Polignano a Mare, when the Old Town, decorated with impressive and colorful lights, hosts the Christmas Markets, accompanied by Christmas melodies alternating with the popular songs of “Mr. Volare”. In this way, the visitor can feel the emotion of the suggestive dissonance between the traditional Christmas atmosphere and the typical Mediterranean landscape, with its olive trees, succulent plants, dry stone walls and white tuff houses, caressed by the mild winter temperatures, which oscillate between 10-15 degrees at night and 20-23 degrees during the day.