The 20th edition runs from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 July 2026, twenty-one years after the first festival in 2005. For the anniversary the organisers have redrawn the town into six thematic worlds: La Rocca Incantata (the enchanted fortress), La Cittadella dei Cavalieri (the knights’ citadel), La Valle del Vapore (steampunk), Abisso d’Acciaio (science fiction), Fumetti e Follie (comics and cosplay) and La Città degli Incubi (horror), with a new Artist Alley for illustrators and an exhibition of twenty years of photographs, costumes and archive material. The 2025 edition, on 11–13 July, listed more than 350 shows, meetings and concerts across eight areas and a market of over 200 stands.
Within the knights’ citadel and the fortress the festival is a medieval fair: a market of craftspeople, armed companies and duels, falconry, taverns and music. Elsewhere it is a cosplay and pop-culture festival with contests, guests from film and comics, live music into the night and street theatre in every lane. Costume is optional but rewarded: a cosplay ticket costs less than a standard one.
Vinci is the real thing. The castle of the Conti Guidi is medieval, the walled core keeps its almond shape, Leonardo was baptised in the church of Santa Croce inside it in 1452, and the Museo Leonardiano in the castle is open during the festival. Until 2024 the festival was held in the last week of July; the 2025 edition moved two weeks earlier because of building works in the town and to escape the worst heat, and 2026 keeps the mid-July slot, so the 2027 weekend should be checked rather than assumed.
Tickets are sold online through TicketOne and BoxOffice Toscana at a discount until a few days before the festival and at the gate at a higher price; a ticket or pass gives access to all areas and activities. Vinci has no station; Empoli, on the Florence–Pisa line, is 10 km away with buses to the town, and the centre is closed to traffic on festival days, so use the signposted car parks.