It is only fitting that for the 11th edition of the Alpine Convention’s Reading Mountains Festival, taking place around International Mountain Day on 11 December, we have 111 events registered to celebrate this special occasion! This year’s Festival features an impressive programme, with events organised across eight countries in and beyond the Alpine region offering a wide range of activities, including book readings, film screenings, literary hikes, crafting workshops, and more. Explore our event map and join us in celebrating the rich diversity of Alpine culture!
Events of the Alpine Convention Infopoints
In Argentière, the Chamonix Infopoint, together with the association Lire et faire lire, is organising book readings at the Village House for pupils from the local school. Supported by teachers and volunteers, the children will playfully explore a range of mountain-related themes, with a special focus on glaciers.
With the book ‘L’Aquila reale: incontri in alta quota’ by Giorgio Marcoaldi, the Cogne Infopoint event will pay tribute to the Golden Eagle with a special focus on the Gran Paradiso area. The book combines three languages (Italian, French, and English), highlighting the linguistic diversity of the Alps while demonstrating that nature and its conservation transcend national borders. The presentation includes an introductory video that showcases the author’s exceptional photographic work.
The Domodossola Infopoint is hosting the eighth edition of the Reading Mountain Infopoint Award, titled ‘Among the colours of the Alps’. The award celebrates young writers from across the province, inviting middle and high school pupils to submit unpublished, mountain-themed stories. Pupils from multiple schools throughout the territory participate each year, sharing their creativity and perspectives on Alpine life.
A special museum evening featuring Matevž Lenarčič is concluding the season for the Mojstrana Infopoint. The event includes a discussion with the author and a screening of the documentary ‘Temni pokrov sveta’. Throughout the year, the Infopoint has hosted reading circles and guided discussions about a selected range of mountaineering literature, aiming to inspire a deeper appreciation for the mountains, encourage critical thinking, and promote a culture of reading around Alpine nature and mountaineering.
Integrated in the ‘Advent am See’ event at the Ötscher base, which brings both the advent season and local traditions to life, the Ötscher-Tormäuer Infopoint offers an interactive reading with authors Verena Hochleitner and Laura Momo Aufderhaar. Their book ‘Was tun, wenn…’ helps children understand and navigate climate change, natural hazards, and other major challenges they may encounter in the mountains.
This year, the newly established Sonthofen Infopoint is joining the Reading Mountains Festival for the first time, organising a ‘multivision’ about the ‘Seven Summits of the Alps’ by Alexander Römer. Through striking images and personal stories, Römer showcases the athletic challenges as well as the natural and cultural variety of the Alps, while highlighting the region’s shared identity and the need for cooperation to protect the Alpine environment.
Glaciers, the official theme of this year’s International Mountain Day, will be the main focus of the event at the Tolmin Infopoint. Researcher Miha Pavšek will give a lecture on the effects of climate change on glaciers, with a special focus on Slovenia’s last surviving ice masses. In addition, two literary discussions with authors Žarko Rovšček and Janez Dovžan will take place at the end of December as part of the Bovec Outdoor Film Festival (BOFF).
The Villach Infopoint in the Dobratsch Nature Park will host a reading by acclaimed Austrian author Reinhard Kaiser-Mühlecker. His work, shaped by life in the Northern Limestone Alps, combines vivid language with reflections on the human experience and a deep connection to the mountains, offering the audience an engaging encounter with literature and topics of regional identity.
Events in Innsbruck
In Innsbruck, where the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention has its headquarters, the Reading Mountains Festival will unfold over a full week with contributions from long-standing as well as new partners. At the Tyrolia bookshop, Georg Bayerle will read from his new book ‘Der Alpen-Appell’, opening a discussion on the sustainable development of the Alps. The Wagnersche bookshop will welcome Robert Prosser for a reading from ‘Das geplünderte Nest’, a novel that examines themes of home and belonging. The Dante Alighieri Institute enriches the week with readings for children, both in a school and at a public event, and will place a special focus on mountain-related topics in its language courses. Joining the festival for the first time, Protect Our Winters Austria will be hosting an evening dedicated to glaciers and climate action, combining a workshop with a series of film screenings and adding a fresh dimension to the Innsbruck programme.
Other events and special mentions
Several special contributions add further depth to this year’s edition. The 25th anniversary of the Via Alpina is being celebrated in Liechtenstein, where CIPRA International concludes its year-long ‘Stimmen entlang der Via Alpina’ series with a film evening, public discussion, and apéro. In Vienna, the association Bahn zum Berg will be hosting a special screening of ‘Requiem in Weiss’ by Tyrolean filmmaker Harry Putz, which also won the prize for ‘Best film on quality of life in the Alps’ awarded by the Alpine Convention at this year’s edition of the Innsbruck Nature Film Festival. The festival also reaches beyond the Alps with an event in the Pyrenees, where the association Cryosanabria presents the book ‘Trevinca desde dentro’, creating a valuable literary bridge between mountain regions.
Numerous partners are putting the spotlight on young audiences for their Reading Mountains events, offering readings and activities for schools that can inspire future generations to appreciate and care for mountain environments. The focus of International Mountain Day on glaciers is also reflected in many of this year’s events, highlighting the urgency of protecting these fragile landscapes. Events for the different senses, illustration sessions, and demonstrations of local crafts bring additional colour to the programme, while local music and regional treats accompany many of the gatherings, turning them into lively celebrations of Alpine heritage.
