Mukanda Festival Revives Abandoned Italian Ghost Town Vico del Gargano

The Mukanda festival, named after an Ndembu coming-of-age ritual from Zambia, returns for its second edition from August 3 to 6 in Vico del Gargano, a historic hilltop town in Puglia with 7,000 residents. Founded in 2014 by four under-30 locals who left for study and work, the free event blends African-influenced electronic music, street art, sustainable architecture, and quality food to combat urban decay. The festival is funded through public and private grants and local business support, aiming to revive the old town and serve as a model for other Italian ghost towns. A key venue is the Palazzo della Bella, a 20th-century imitation of Florentine architecture, restored by volunteers for the first edition and now the festival headquarters. New street murals will be created by artists SBAGLIATO, Giorgio Bartocci, and RUN, while the experimental second stage features organic, sustainable architecture by the Bari-based collective LAN (Laboratorio Architetture Naturali). The festival seeks to transform Vico del Gargano into an open-air museum in a region with few active museums.