“The Fridays of Ercolano” and “The Leisures of Ercole” are back: music, theater, dance and performance-lessons in the heart of the ancient city.
The Archaeological Park of Herculaneum inaugurates the 2026 summer program with a rich calendar of events that will accompany the public from July to September through cultural experiences capable of combining the extraordinary beauty of the ancient city with the languages of live entertainment and dissemination.
The season’s highlights will be the ninth edition of “I Venerdì di Ercolano,” one of the most anticipated events of the Campania cultural season, and the sixth edition of “Gli Ozi di Ercole,” a series of lecture-performances on the Ancient Beach.
Fridays in Ercolano – Ninth Edition
The 2026 edition opens with an inaugural evening on Thursday 2 July and continues on Fridays 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 July and 7 August, with a further date on Saturday 26 September 2026.
The project proposes an itinerant route within the archaeological area, open in the evening and enhanced by special artistic lighting. The performative interventions – hosted in different points of the site – are repeated cyclically throughout the evening, allowing visitors to freely construct their own path between entertainment and archaeology.
The theme: Love and War
The underlying theme of the 2026 edition explores the profound connection between eros and polemos through seven artistic performances (three dance, two musical, two acting). Lucretius, in De rerum natura, describes love by evoking war; Kleist, in Penthesilea, connects kisses and bites; Thucydides defines eros as the Athenians’ “amorous” passion for the conquest of Sicily. Love and war, passions that disrupt and transform, have accompanied humanity since its first appearance on earth.
With “Fridays in Herculaneum,” the Park renews its commitment to making its archaeological heritage a living space, open to dialogue with the languages of the present. The ancient city becomes a meeting place between memory and creativity. This year’s theme, “Love and War,” invites us to reflect on the complexity of the human experience through the evocative power of art, in a unique setting like Herculaneum.
Federica Colaiacomo, Director of the Herculaneum Archaeological Park
The artistic program
Theater performance
Alfonso Postiglione / House of the Contemporary
Penthesilea and Achilles May love pierce death
Two “impossible” dialogues in the form of a journalistic interview: modern-day war correspondents meet Penthesilea and Achilles about their clash in the final year of the Trojan War. Original texts by Dario Postiglione; directed by Alfonso Postiglione. Costumes by Giuseppe Avallone. With Rossella De Martino/Francesca Cercola (Penthesilea), Giampiero De Concilio (Achilles), Monica Buzoianu (The Correspondent), Antonio Elia (The Correspondent).
Dance performance
Cornelia Dance Company
Polis / Polemos. The war between myth and history
Three site-specific dance interventions inspired by the classical imagery of the site and the thought of Simone Weil, who identifies force as the capacity to reduce human beings to things: Tirocinium militiae (the formation of the body of the polis; with Noemi Avino, Marika Pierri, Alessia Starace), Duellum (Hercules and Achelous; with Alessandro Sodano and Emanuele Esposito), Corpus in ruina (the transformation of the human; with Gioele Barrella).
Music performance
OTP Association – Obeče Teatro Project
Interludes in the House of Telephus / Voices under the Ashes
A site-specific musical and narrative performance in the House of the Relief of Telephus: three timeless souls—Pythia, the oracle-singer; Telephus, the missing soldier; and Bronzo, a deserting musician with Dionysian powers—awaken each time history repeats its cataclysms. Ancient songs and traditional Neapolitan masterpieces performed live intertwine the mortal wound inflicted by Achilles on Telephus, the impossible love of war, and the secret of healing. Dramaturgy and direction by Maria Angela Robustelli; musical dramaturgy and arrangements by Salvatore Torregrossa. Featuring: Pythia – Maria Angela Robustelli; Telephus – Gennaro Di Biase; Bronzo – Salvatore Torregrossa.
Massimo Cordovani and Mario Di Bonito
Conflict and memory between stone and history
Live performances of voice, guitar, synthesizers, and percussion: instrumental pieces and original songs in dialogue with the surrounding archaeology.
Opening hours and access methods
The Park will be accessible from 8.00 pm to 12.00 am, with entrances from Corso Resina 187 and from Via dei Papiri Ercolanesi 19. Online ticketing, max 600 visitors per time slot:
First shift: 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM — checkout by 9:30 PM, full checkout by 10:00 PM
Second shift: 10.00pm – 11.30pm – exit by 11.30pm, complete exit by 12.00am
The Leisures of Hercules – SIXTH edition
The summer program continues in September with the sixth edition of “Gli Ozi di Ercole,” scheduled for September 10, 11, and 12, 2026. The initiative offers lecture-shows, theatrical readings, and musical performances in the evocative setting of the Ancient Beach, one of the most evocative locations on the site, accessible from approximately 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM.
Maximum 400 people per event. Tickets available online and at the box office (until the event starts and while seats last).
With “Gli Ozi di Ercole,” we continue to experiment with innovative ways of narrating our heritage, fostering the intersection of research, dissemination, and the performing arts. We want the Park to increasingly serve as a space for cultural exchange and growth, capable of reaching diverse audiences through engaging, high-quality experiences.
Federica Colaiacomo, Director of the Herculaneum Archaeological Park
With its 2026 summer program, the Herculaneum Archaeological Park confirms its commitment to experimenting with innovative ways to enhance its cultural heritage, bringing together diverse audiences and restoring a dynamic, participatory, and profoundly contemporary dimension to the ancient city. The detailed program for each evening and booking details will be available through the Park’s official channels.
