Have you already planned your holidays in Italy this summer? If not, here you can find a few more reason to visit it between August and September, even for a short weekend. From North to South, have a look at the five best music festivals along the country.
1. Stresa Festival
With a rich programme of encounters and concerts, Stresa Festival comes back with its 56th edition. Spanning from classical and jazz music, the festival features literary meetings as well, such as the one with the author Erri De Luca, on 4 September (free entrance). If you love classical music you will find Bach and Čajkovskij, but you will also have the chance to discover baroque music of the colonial era in dialogue with flamenco. Set on the shores of Lake Maggiore (Piedmont), the festival is held in stunning venues such as Regina Palace Hotel. Visit the website to check the full programme and to get your tickets.
2. TOdays Festival
This is the ideal festival if you are looking for a bit of surprise and something unconventional. Yes, because from 25 to 27 August Turin will be on fire. The only presence of PJ Harvey at TOdays festival would be enough to get a ticket, but there is more. Just a few names: Band of Horses, Mac DeMarco, Timber Timbre, Giovanni Truppi. The 3 days pass costs just 60 euros and you have all the artists mentioned above and many more. To get your pass visit the website.
3. Ferrara Busker Festival
Buskers are very common in London and as you may know they have to take part in auditions before having the opportunity to perform on the street or on the tube. In Italy the phenomenon is not so popular and above all, not so regulated. However, there is a Festival in Ferrara (Emilia-Romagna) that has been giving for 30 years the opportunity to buskers from all around the world to express their art. Born in 1987 by an idea of Stefano Bottoni, a blacksmith who welcomed in his workshop Lucio Dalla in 1989, Ferrara Busker Festival (17-27 August) will welcome more than 1,000 artist. For more information visit the website.
4. Farm Festival
The name of this festival may suggest something else, but actually it is real music festival in Castellana Grotte (Bari, Puglia). Set in an area surrounded by trulli (the typical buildings of the region), the Farm Festival has a pretty interesting line-up: three international headliners (Yuck, Public Service Broadcasting, Lone) and some Italian artists you have probably listened to in the last few couple of years, such as Cosmo, Niagara and Dargen D’Amico. The two day pass (7-8 August) costs just 12 euros, the seaside is not far and the food is just amazing. Anything else?
5. Ypsigrock
One of best indie festivals in Italy for sure, Ypsigrock is celebrating its 21st anniversary. The line up is great as usual and includes different artists, among which you may know Beach House, Digitalism, Cabbage and Cigarettes after sex. The 3-day pass costs less than 80 euros. So from 10 to 13 August head to Castelbuono (Sicily) to enjoy some good music and sun!
