What to Expect from the Sanremo Music Festival 2024

The Sanremo Music Festival, officially known as il Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo, is one of the most prestigious and well-known music festivals in Italy. The festival celebrates the Italian language and Italian music together with it. The history of the festival is a long one since it was first held in 1951, which makes it one of the world’s longest-running music contests. The festival's position is an important one as it promotes new Italian artists and a song that would represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest. Winning the festival is considered a grand achievement for artists, and the winning song often becomes a commercial success in Italy.

This year in 2024, the 74th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival is going to take place at Ariston Theatre in Sanremo, Italy. The long-running festival would be held for five days, extending from February 6 to February 10. There will be 30 contestants who are familiar with the competition, as well as new ones who are yet to be discovered. 

The returning artists include:

• Ricchi e Poveri (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978*, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992)
• Loredana Bertè (1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2019)
• Annalisa (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021)
• Emma (2011, 2012, 2014*, 2022)
• Irama (2019, 2021, 2022)
• Fiorella Mannoia (1981, 1984, 2017)
• Nek (1997, 2015, 2019)
• Diodato (2018, 2020*)
• Francesco Renga (2019, 2021)
• Il Volo (2015*, 2019)
• Mahmood (2019*, 2022*)
• Dargen D'Amico (2022)
• Mr. Rain (2023)
• Sangiovanni (2022)
• The Kolors (2018)

*represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest

On February 6, the show will be opened with the previous winner of the Sanremo Music Festival, Marco Mengoni, co-hosting with Amadeus. Mengoni successfully represented Italy at Eurovision in 2013 and 2023.  

The second day of the festival marks the return of the presenter Giorgia from the previous years of the competition. Giovanni Allevi will be the special guest, returning to the stage after the announcement of his illness.

The third day will be dedicated to Teresa Mannino, who is a comedian, author, and actress. We will hear all the songs that would compete by then. The night will be followed by the accompaniment of Russell Crowe and it will be the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the song Terra Promise by Eros Ramazzotti. 

On February 9, we will see Lorella Cuccarini hosting the event while the artists perform a cover of another song. 

On the final day, all 30 songs will be performed one last time before the counting of the votes from the previous nights is finalized. The festival also celebrates 60 years of Non-ho l'età together with Gigliola Cinquetti.

Anyone interested can follow the event on Italian channel Rai 1, live from Ariston Theatre. For those who prefer the convenience of streaming, the live broadcast will be available on RaiPlay.