OTHER FESTIVALS

In over a century and a half of history, the Italian song has occupied several stages in order to reach and impress upon the general public. The most famous stage at an international level is the Sanremo Festival, but others have represented and still represent important appointments in the form of competitions or simple showcases. The festival-mania first emerged in Naples in the mid-nineteenth century with the festival of Piedigrotta, a long lasting event where new songs were presented in Neapolitan every year. At the end of the century the city of Rome also played a part with the San Giovanni Festival dedicated to the Romanesque repertoire. The Fascist era burgeoned with events in which popular passion bound with the commercial instinct of publishers and entrepreneurs giving rise to a constant supply of songs, especially in the vernacular production. However, the most fruitful period for discography was the 1960s, when new events proved the liveliness of the market while leaving an indelible imprint on the national popular culture: Cantagiro, Disco per l’Estate, Festivalbar, Castrocaro Festival, Festival di Napoli, Festival delle Rose, Ariccia's Festival degli sconosciuti, Festival dello Zecchino d’Oro and many others had the merit of discovering and launching new faces and talents in the world of the song. In some cases, its effects were amplified by television, in others by the itinerant formula that saw the festival train move from place to place following a tour that stopped in the vicinity of several major tourist attractions. Some of these festivals still survive today and showcase foreign performers alongside both fresh and old glories of the Italian song. The record industry has capitalized on the most important festivals by issuing entire collections or selections from various editions.