L'Aquila formally inaugurates the year as Italy's Capital of Culture 2026 with a ceremonial event at the Auditorium of the Guardia di Finanza, attended by President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, whose speech symbolically signifies the start of the celebrations. Alongside him are Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, Mayor Pierluigi Biondi and Abruzzo Region President Marco Marsilio. Leonardo De Amicis' artistic direction crafts a choral narrative that interweaves music, words, and images to tell the story of the Apennine region, the city's origins, civil and spiritual reconstruction, and Celestine's legacy. Not merely a celebration, but a foundational act: a collective pledge to the future of culture, as De Amicis himself underscores. The artistic cast has a significant link to Abruzzo: Giorgio Pasotti, Gianluca Ginoble, Simona Molinari, Viola Graziosi, and even Maestro Fabrizio Mancinelli. The Istituzione Sinfonica Abruzzese, I Solisti Aquilani, the "Casella" Conservatory, and the city's United Choirs provide a strong soundscape that reinforces the narrative. Wide space is devoted to the concept of the “Multiverse City", with a contribution by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and a tribute to Ennio Morricone, honorary citizen of L’Aquila. Meanwhile, the historic center is animated by remarkable events curated by Marco Boarino: from the drone display "Sotto un unico cielo" to the light parade "Il Viaggio della Luce", the performance within the Duomo titled "La Città Celestiale", and the illumination of the installation "Il Faro 99", visible from several kilometers away.