It is no longer enough protect the sea; we must reinterpret it as a communal space, a horizon of infinite relationships and a place from which to regenerate. From 27 to 29 June 2025, the Sea Essence International Festival (SEIF) - the first international event dedicated to safeguarding and appreciating the sea, organised by the Acqua dell’Elba dell’Elba Foundation - is celebrating its seventh edition on the Island of Elba. Three days of experiences, encounters and performances in which the sea takes centre stage in an accessible and collective format, for the first time in an edition embracing the whole island and transforming it into a workshop of ideas, shows, exchanges and real-life actions with one central theme: ‘Mediterranean Communities’. The entire Island of Elba will be starring in a calendar of free and wide-ranging events inviting exploration of the sea from all perspectives: scientific, social and creative. Because looking after the sea means, first and foremost, looking after the communities living in contact with it.
A festival embracing the whole Island of Elba
Those who experience the Mediterranean as a way of life know that, to look after the sea, we must look after the communities that live with it, cross it and safeguard it, always. For the fist time, SEIF is an all-embracing festival, involving each of the Island’s seven municipalities in experiences, encounters, workshops and artistic performances. The three main ‘stages’ – Capoliveri, Portoferraio and Marciana Marina – will be hosting afternoon and evening events conceived for all generations, from educational activities for children (SEIF 4 Kids) to diving free of charge and exhibitions.
In one of the most eagerly-awaited items on the agenda, Vincenzo Schettini will bring his summer physics show to Portoferraio, transforming the laws of nature into a story that begins with sea itself. To close, musical acts Valerio Lundini and VazzaNikki, with their surreal sound, will perform in Marciana Marina, making the stage a place of genuine connection.
During SEIF - Island of Elba, there will also be an important symbolic moment with inauguration of the western loop of the ‘Via dell’Essenza’, the final leg of a long-term project undertaken in 2011 to showcase Elba’s landscape through walking, a torch now carried by the Acqua dell’Elba Foundation in partnership with the Tuscan Archipelago National Park. This path, now covering 66.5 km in all, is made up of eight sensory routes to explore on foot with the aid of informative signage, QR codes with digital content and maps illustrating the Island’s history, nature and identity.
The future of the Mediterranean in an archipelago of ideas
SEIF - Island of Elba is also a festival of far-reaching connections. The Blue Schools project made the Island of Elba Europe’s first area with all schools certified as UNESCO ‘Blue Schools’, and now covers the entire Tuscan Archipelago. This initiative is bringing ocean education into the classroom, shaping a new generation mindful of marine challenges through real-life projects, from learning about seabed biodiversity and studying Posidonia oceanicaseagrass to chemical analysis of sea water and photography exhibitions on marine organisms.
SEIF will also be hosting the ninth edition of the prestigious Acqua dell’Elba Arts Prize, created with the goal of promoting a creative and critical approach to the Mediterranean ecosystem. The Prize, organised in partnership with the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, will transform the Island into an open-air gallery with an exhibition dedicated to ‘Mediterranean Communities’, open to the public until 5 July.
During this edition of SEIF, harmony between art, the environment and the local area resounds in celebration of the Mediterranean and its communities to safeguard them and their identity. Fabio Murzi, Chairman of the Acqua dell’Elba Foundation, emphasises that the sea has always been a symbol of life, of encounter and of coming and growing together, and SEIF - Island of Elba seeks to be a space for exchange, with the sea as a connecting element between lands, cultures, stories and people. A festival not merely enacted but reinvented as a space for dialogue open to everyone, in three days of free events revealing that Mediterranean communities include not only people living on the coast but all those who see the sea as a shared heritage to protect and appreciate together.
