by InTrieste
Italy’s most popular song contest is back at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, a beautiful seaside town on Ligurian coast, with 28 artists battling it out over five nights from 7-11 February 2023.
The event, whose official title is the Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo, has been held every year since 1951, making it the world’s longest-running annual televised music competition at a national level.
Now in its 73rd edition, Sanremo was the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest and the winner often represents Italy in the European competition, which last year was held in Turin on 14 May and was won by Ukraine.
The festival’s biggest claim to fame internationally is perhaps Nel blu, dipinto di blu, popularly known as “Volare“, a song performed by Italian singer-songwriter Domenico Modugno at the 1958 Sanremo before it took the world by storm.
Surrounded by hype, the annual extravaganza tends to divide Italy into the “love it or hate it” camps, along with Italians who profess to never watch it but in reality are among the millions glued to their television screens.
The festival will be screened by state broadcaster RAI 1 every evening, starting from 20.35, and in streaming on Rai Play, from 7-11 February.
