If you are attending the Sanremo festival, we strongly recommend you rent a car so that you will be able to move freely from one place to another.
Every year in February, Italy has its eyes on Sanremo and the Festival della canzone italiana. The festival was born in 1951. The first edition was inaugurated at the Teatro Ariston, in Sanremo itself and has been held every year since then. In the early years, the contest was broadcast on the radio and it was in 1955 that it was broadcast on TV. The event takes place in February and lasts several days. Various Italian and international personalities have come to the Teatro Ariston, either as guests on stage or just to watch as spectators. It is extremely difficult, if not almost impossible, to get tickets for the festival. Only, if you choose to go to Sanremo at this time, you will find a great party atmosphere and be able to meet your favourite singers and maybe ask for a selfie or an autograph. Therefore, we advise renting a car so that you can move easily and quickly from one end to the other. In this way, you will be able to avoid the traffic which is usually unbelievable during the Festival.
What to do during the Festival?
There will be so many big names singing on the stage of the Ariston Theatre that you will be able to find them around the city during the days of the Festival. However, Sanremo is a splendid town, thus apart from attending the festival there will be many places that you can visit. These include but are not limited to: The Cathedral of San Siro, the Russian Church, the Casino, the Cycle Track, La Pigna (the historical centre of the city), Villa Nobel, the Villa Ormond Gardens, the Fort of Santa Tecla and much more. Therefore, there will be a lot to explore and discover.
How will this year’s Festival work?
The festival will be broadcast on Television from 7 to 11 February. This year 25 contestants are confirmed, including the 3 finalists of Sanremo Giovani who will have to participate in the Festival with a different song from the one they sang in December. The fourth evening will be dedicated to Cover songs: on this occasion the artists will be able to draw from a repertoire ranging from 1 January 1960 to 31 December 1999, reinterpreting a song together with a guest chosen by them and approved by the Artistic Direction. The most voted interpretation will receive a special prize. This singing competition of 25 Champions will be judged by the public at home through televoting (from landlines and mobile phones), by the Jury of the Press Room, TV, Radio and Web (150 representatives of the media accredita to the Festival) and by the Demoscopic Jury (300 members).
On the first and second evenings, the jury from the Press Room, TV, Radio and Web will cast its vote by dividing into three independent components: one-third for TV and print media, one-third for radio and one-third for the web jury. On the third evening, 50% of the vote will be entrusted to the televote and the other 50% to the dermoscopic jury. On the fourth and fifth evenings, finally, the voting will be tripartite: 34% will be entrusted to the televote, 33% to the press room-tv-radio-web jury and 33% to the dermoscopic jury.
