The Importance of Cultural Volunteering in Southern Italy's Small Towns

Cultural volunteering: a political act

When we say that OnStage APS is an association of volunteers (legally it is an APS, an associazione di promozione sociale, Italy's "social promotion association"), many people picture village fairs, food stalls, fundraisers. In reality, cultural volunteering is something different: it is a political act that affirms the right to culture as a fundamental right.

The context: villages that are disappearing

Inland Salento — the belt of small towns far from the coast and the tourism industry — is going through a silent demographic crisis. Young people leave, businesses close, town squares empty out.

In this context, every festival, every mural, every freestyle battle is an outpost: it says "we are still here, and we have something to offer".

Who OnStage's volunteers are

OnStage was born on 10 February 2016 in Botrugno from twenty friends who were tired of hearing that there was nothing for young people in town. During the pandemic many of the original members, now adults, left the group, and the association chose to stay young: new young people joined from Botrugno, Minervino and the surrounding towns, already active in local hip hop events.

At the end of 2025 a new Members' Register was opened, with 40 members signing up between 30 and 31 December, and at the beginning of 2026 came the Crew Manual, which gives the volunteers' work a shared method.

What unites us is not a specific skill but a conviction: that Botrugno and towns like it deserve the same cultural quality as big cities.

What you learn by volunteering for culture

The impact isn't only on the community: it's also on the people who volunteer.

- Organizational skills that no university course teaches
- Interpersonal relationships built under pressure (which is when real relationships form)
- A sense of belonging to a place you helped make better

How to join us

If you're from Botrugno or nearby and want to contribute to the next initiatives, [become a member](/diventa-socio) or write to us from the [contact page](/contatti). No special skills required: all you need is the will to do it.