75 years of Aggiornamenti Sociali: Rallentare, a Festival of Sustainable Rhythms
Milan is preparing to host Rallentare | Festival of Sustainable Rhythms, a new cultural event conceived by the Jesuit review Aggiornamenti Sociali and the Fondazione Culturale San Fedele. The festival will take place on Saturday, October 4, 2025, in the spaces of the Fondazione Culturale San Fedele, located at Piazza San Fedele 4 and Via Ulrico Hoepli 3/b, in the heart of the city.
Rallentare | Festival of Sustainable Rhythms is part of the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of Aggiornamenti Sociali, the Foundation’s magazine. The festival offers a unique multidisciplinary journey: an invitation to rethink everyday rhythms and to experience music and art as immersive, contemplative practices that foster critical reflection, active participation, and new social imaginaries grounded in integral ecology—ten years after Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’.
“Is it possible,” asks Giuseppe Riggio, editor-in-chief of Aggiornamenti Sociali, “to slow down in our society without it seeming just like an escape, or being perceived as merely a temporary break? Can we be fully engaged in today’s dynamics while embracing a different rhythm? Starting from these questions, we aim to spark debate on how we inhabit the spaces and relationships that shape our lives. And these reflections are even more crucial in such a hectic and complex city like Milan.”
With the Rallentare Festival, the Fondazione Culturale San Fedele renews its commitment to exploring new cultural paradigms, where art, music, and critical thought intertwine to discover fresh ways in which the spiritual dimension can be embodied in everyday life.
A multidisciplinary program
The Festival will feature debates, workshops, artistic and spiritual itineraries, urban walks, exhibitions, and activities for young people and children.
Among the guests: Elsa Fornero, Elena Granata, Luca Mercalli, Federico Cabitza, Ivana Pais, Simone Romagnoli, Paolo Bovio, Fabio Carminati, Vania De Luca, Luciana Grosso, and many others. The Festival will conclude in the San Fedele Auditorium with an evocative acousmatic screening of the animated movie Flow. A World to Save, winner of the 2025 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Thanks to the Auditorium’s Acusmonium Sator, a unique 50-speaker sound system in Italy, the audience will enjoy an immersive experience in which sound becomes a sensory vehicle capable of delicately touching the innermost chords. The screening will be followed by a conversation on social and environmental solidarity featuring Giovanni Mori (energy engineer and climate activist) and Erica Tossani (co-director of Caritas Ambrosiana).
Free and accessible events
All activities are free of charge until full capacity (except for the evening screening, with tickets priced at €8 full price and €5 for under-30s). During the events, a dedicated children’s area will be available for kids aged 6 to 11. Throughout the Festival, the Bistrot San Fedele, the secret bar inside the San Fedele Auditorium, will be open.
The initiative, sponsored by the City of Milan and supported by Fondazione Cariplo, involves several partners and organizations: INNER_SPACES, Museo San Fedele, Assistenza Sanitaria San Fedele, Fondazione Carlo Maria Martini, Circolo Laudato si’ – Milan “San Fedele”, Fuorimano, CVX Italia, UCSI – Unione Cattolica della Stampa Italiana, Libreria Àncora, Associazione Piedipagina, and AlgoNatural. Media partners include: TV2000, InBlu2000, Play2000, and Radio Marconi.
The complete program, further information, and updates are available at: rallentare.org