Perche Sanremore è Sanremo - because Sanremo is Sanremo, the old slogan has turned a bit sour this year. Sanremo the municipality and Rai the broadcaster have been discussion and trying to find a solution to various topics over the summer and now Rai has set an ultimatum for the decision so they can fully start focusing on the next edition of the Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo as it is fully named.
To cut a long story short the latest break up started with a legal dispute regarding the direct assignment of the festival to the broadcaster as it was considered illegitimate by the regional administrative court of Liguria last December. Well, an open bid was launched for the 2026 edition but not surprisingly only Rai applied.
Next the municipality of Sanremo demanded a financial increase for hosting the festival up to 6,5 million euros instead of the previous 5 million plus required Rai to produce additional tv-shows in Sanremo besides the five nights of 4-5 hours of live broadcasts and all the rest during all day long as most every talk show and variety in Italy moves to Sanremo during that week. Apparently they also demanded a percentage of the advertising on top of everything. Obviously Rai hasn't agreed to these terms.
Also, municipality of Sanremo claims it owns the name and copyright of Festival della canzone italiana while Rai claims that without them the festival and name wouldn't exist and count one euro.
Teatro Ariston that is very small and outdated and quite a labyrinth behind the stage has been considered quite unsuitable for the festival and tv-show it is these days and there's been talk about moving out for years already, mostly to PalaFiori in Sanremo. On the other hand its stage is THE stage in Italy and ever big stars say they get the chills on it - there's no stage like it. Then again, municipality of Sanremo has planned a new PalaFestival for years but nothing has been done despite the demands by Rai.
But soon we know if it's all only Italian theater and drama or will Rai really move elsewhere and re-brand the festival while Sanremo will lose in their gamble millions and millions of euros and local hotels, shops and restaurants will cry bitter tears when their most profitable week is gone for good. Add all private airbnbs, taxi drivers.... well, everyone in Sanremo region all the way to Nice in France and Genoa in Italy. They only have to lose and with that the current mayor may soon lose his job, too, as he seems to be the one behind these moves. He may have just made a big mistake by gambling his town's future like this.
What can we expect in case there's no agreement? Festival della canzone Rai could be the name for the new Sanremo festival. Most likely it would still be the one to choose also the Italian Eurovision song contest entry . Many cities have already volunteered to host it from Turin to Milan, Viareggio, Rimini and Naples just to name a few as Turin seems to be the main candidate nicely to hand over the old festival to a new, more Eurovision like one. One proposal is that it could be held 1-2 years in one town and then it would travel to another one, mostly keeping up with the coastal spirit of Sanremo with towns like Viareggio, Rimini, Bari, Naples, Palermo.... That's for the 2027 edition and beyond. Meanwhile the 76th festival della canzone italiana will be held in Teatro Ariston di Sanremo February 24-28, 2026 - a bit later than usual due to Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina.
Let's wait and see. By the end of August the decisions must be made. The 75 editions have been hosted in only three locations before: Casinò di Sanremo from 1951 to 1976 and then Teatro Ariston with the exception of 1990 in Sanremo's flower market as Ariston was under renovation.
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