Straborgo (www.straborgo.it) returns, the event organized by Fondazione LEM in collaboration with Xlr Produzioni Srl, which over the past six years has revitalized the Borgo dei Cappuccini district, establishing it as a key venue for contemporary music and high-impact concerts. This strictly free event has also gained national attention as a promising launchpad for many young artists’ careers.

The beating heart of the festival remains Piazza Mazzini. This large quadrangle, lined with centuries-old plane trees, will host three concerts and one evening dedicated to entertainment.

The first name announced for Straborgo 2026 is The Zen Circus. The band will take the stage on May 29 (free entry) as part of their “Il Male Summer Tour 2026.”

The tour takes its name from IL MALE (Carosello Records), the band’s new album of original songs released on September 26, 2025. The initial tour, which concluded in December, was completely sold out—proof of the audience’s enthusiasm for an album that debuted at number two on the FIMI/GfK physical album chart in Italy and number four on the overall chart during its release week.

The album features eleven tracks and is one of their rawest and most direct works, tackling the theme of pain in its many forms. The band places “evil” at the center: questioning it, listening to it, confronting it. Ignoring it, they suggest, does not erase it but instead feeds it. The album embraces imperfection and inconsistency as essential parts of being human, recognizing fragility and fallibility as shared traits.

The Zen Circus retain the heterogeneity that has always defined their sound and artistic direction: explosive energy, immediately impactful lyrics, and a balance between sharp-edged tracks and intense ballads. IL MALE has been widely promoted through interviews and has received enthusiastic reviews from major media outlets.

Over the years, the band has built a steadily growing career, becoming a reference point in Italian rock with a cross-generational fan base that has followed them for over twenty-five years. Their journey includes thousands of concerts, thirteen albums, participation among the main acts at the Sanremo Music Festival 2019, and an anti-biographical novel published by Mondadori, which achieved both critical and commercial success.

The announcement of the summer dates follows the European tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of La Terza Guerra Mondiale, which will see The Zen Circus performing throughout April in some of Europe’s major cities, including Munich, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, London, and Barcelona.

Straborgo has established itself nationally as a key venue for major concerts and, over time, has also become a fortunate launching pad for many emerging artists. The heart of the event remains Piazza Mazzini, the large quadrangle lined with centuries-old plane trees, which from May 29 to June 1, 2026, will host three concerts and an evening dedicated to entertainment.

On the afternoon of Sunday, May 31, the spotlight will once again be on the sporting tradition of the rowers competing in the Coppa Risi’atori, one of the classics of Livorno rowing. Fondazione LEM has relaunched the event with live television coverage and a giant screen in Piazza Mazzini, enhanced by drone footage following the race in open sea.