Sanremo 2021, there is confirmation of the dates, but there is controversy on the public

What at first seemed to be able to skip was, however, confirmed by Rai. Viale Mazzini, at the end of a meeting with the top management of RaiUno and Amadeus, artistic director of Sanremo, confirmed that the Festival will be held between 2 and 6 March. “Among the topics addressed during the meeting, the health and organizational protocol that will soon be submitted to the competent authorities in order to provide for a presence of the public in the stalls of the Ariston Theater», Was then read, in a note in which Rai did not want to mention the ship, the bubble on which the Festival audience could have been kept.

An audience whose existence, although only potential to date, has sparked theindignation of the entertainment industry.

Enzo Mazza, at the head of Fimi, said that “scenarios with external stages, catwalks with the public, sponsor and radio stands and press meetings were excluded for our artists. Everything will have to happen in streaming as it happens today in any other event, starting from the Berlin film festival, held in the same week as Sanremo ». No joy, therefore, no openness to the possibility of having, in the midst of the pandemic, an audience to which to direct one’s performances. «Sanremo must not enjoy extra-territoriality. The rest of the country would not only not understand but would be negatively affected if exemptions were granted only for the need to satisfy the economic needs of Rai and the Municipality of Sanremo “, continued Mazza, whose grievances were preceded by the collective action of Art Directors Club Italiano, the association that, for thirty-five years, has brought together the main Italian creatives and advertisers.

“At a time when the pandemic is attacking, the economy is in crisis and everyone, and specifically I am thinking of the world of culture and entertainment, are diligently at a standstill. Assuming a Festival open to the public sounds like a discordant note to us. I believe there is no need: the Festival is a television show, not a theatrical one, to which the presence in the audience of a few hundred “privileged” adds nothing. Then, what message would you pass on to all Italians who are facing great sacrifices? That museums, cinemas, theaters and all related activities must diligently, as they are doing, remain closed and instead the Sanremo Festival “, declared Vicky Gitto, head of the ADCI, strongly opposing the needs of Rai Advertising, which last year with the Festival has grossed 37 million euros.