Founders of Materia Festival, Lorenzo Baldacci and Riccardo di Massa, detail the electronic music festival set to take place outdoors at the Cappella della Madonna delle Rose, Scandicci, from midday to midnight on June 2.
How and why did Materia Festival come about?
Materia Festival grew out of an observation and a concrete desire to do something about it. In the Florence events scene, underground electronic music had lost its space, not for lack of audience, but for lack of anyone willing to take responsibility for building it. The underlying idea has always been to create an event that holds real meaning for the local area and the people who live in it. We’re both Florentine and have worked in this field for years and wanted to unite the local underground community in an authentic way.
What’s your perception of the electronic music scene in Florence? How is it evolving?
Florence has a complicated history with electronic music. It has had its golden moments but in recent years that continuity has broken down. In a city with a large and passionate electronic music community, it nonetheless struggles to build a real underground ecosystem. Materia Festival was created to be that space. The young audience of mainly 18- to 35-year-olds is not simply looking for a night out. They are looking for a cultural experience and sense of belonging as an alternative to the traditional nightclub.
What’s the importance of the location of the festival?
In recent years, Zaches Teatro, a theatre company committed to artistic research and the cultural development of the area, has invested time, energy, and concrete resources in the recovery and redevelopment of a space that was previously abandoned and in a state of disrepair. Through significant regeneration efforts, the site has been transformed into a vibrant cultural space, designed to welcome the community and create new opportunities for meeting and participation. Today, it hosts artistic and educational activities, including creative workshops, theatre courses, and cultural initiatives open to the local community.
The Cappella della Madonna della Rosa is tucked away in the woods of Scandicci. It’s not a famous place, you won’t find it in guidebooks; and that’s exactly why it works. There’s something precious about bringing hundreds of people to a place most of them never knew existed and giving it back to them through music in a completely unexpected way. The surrounding woodland is an integral part of the entire experience. Materia starts at midday so that it follows the arc of the day, using nature as an active element of the sensory experience. Inhabiting nature with respect also means taking care of it. Materia Festival works to minimize the event’s environmental impact through reusable cups, careful waste management and other measures all designed to leave the site exactly as it was found.
What’s the story behind the name of The Mycelium Forest?
Every edition of Materia has a theme. For 2026, the theme is mycelium: the invisible fungal network that spreads beneath the forest floor, connecting trees and organisms across great distances by sharing nutrients, signals, and resources. It functions almost like a collective nervous system that regulates the forest. A form of distributed intelligence with no centre, no hierarchy and no single point of control. This metaphor describes exactly what Materia Festival aspires to be. It dissolves the classic conception of artists on stage and audience below, replacing it with a horizontal system where every person, whether they’re performing, dancing or sitting under a tree in conversation, is a node in the same network.
The lineup is all local artists. Tell us more about what attendees can expect?
The choice of a lineup composed entirely of Tuscan artists defines the festival’s identity. The reason is that the Tuscan underground scene has real talent, artists with defined artistic identities who have been working for years without a platform worthy of their quality, and Materia Festival wants to be that platform.
Membership of Materia APS is required to attend, costing 10 euro.
