Rome: Primo Maggio Music Festival, 1st May 2009

The festival line-up is not completely released yet, but it already features important names: from Vasco Rossi, who takes part in the festival for the first time after 10 years (the title of one of his songs, Il mondo che vorrei, meaning The world that I would like, is also the title of the event), to some of the most energetic Italian bands and singers, like Bandabard and Caparezza, not forgetting some well-known musicians, which are appreciated by different generations (Edoardo Bennato and Nomadi). To make the event even more special, and to turn it into a real celebration of the best Italian music, in particular of rock music, the festival will host a super-band composed of some members of two of the most appreciated and loved Italian rock bands: Manuel Agnelli, of Afterhours, and Cristiano Godano and Gianni Maroccolo of Marlene Kuntz, three excellent live performers, whose mix certainly bodes well. The festival is also meant to promote emerging bands, and the event will open with the performances of the winners of the contest Primo Maggio tutto lanno (May the 1st throughout the year), around ten bands selected throughout the country, who will give us an idea of how music might sound like in the future.

However, the festival is not only a great music event and a feast for the thousands of young people who travel to Rome, it is also a space to meditate on and to make people aware of important social issues, concerning in particular the field of work. The 1st of May, indeed, is above all the Labour Day, and the concert, which is organised by CGIL, CISL and UIL, the three main Italian trade unions, is connected every year to an important and urgent issue: this years theme will be the dead at work, and to give a concrete help a fund-raising for the children of casualties at work has been set up.

If all this is not enough to convince you to book a low cost lodging in Rome, note that this year the event will be presented by the great actor Sergio Castellitto, who has promised to enrich the festival with poetry (in particular with Trilussas and Majakovskijs poems), and it will host also Marco Paolini, who will probably entertain the public with a theatre performance, turning the Rome concerts into a real cultural event.


Tickets: free event
Date: 1st May 2009
Location, Piazza San Giovanni, Rome, Italy