Ypsigrock Festival — Castelbuono: Dates & Info

Four days of indie and alternative music at the foot of the Ventimiglia castle. Running since 1997, Italy's first boutique festival has one house rule: no artist ever plays it twice.

The name comes from Ypsigro, the ancient toponym of Castelbuono, and since 1997 the festival has drawn indie crowds from across Europe to this town in the Madonie mountains every August. The main stage sits in Piazza Castello below the Ventimiglia castle, with further sets in the 17th-century cloister of San Francesco and at the Ypsicamping site inside the park.

Its trademark is the "Ypsi Once" rule: no act appears twice in the festival's history under the same name. The 2026 edition, the twenty-ninth, ran from August 6 to 9 with Black Country, New Road and Chet Faker on the bill; in 2017 it was the only Italian event shortlisted at the European Festival Awards.

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