The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been in the avant-garde, promoting new artistic trends and organizing international events in contemporary arts.
It is world-beating for the International Film Festival, for the International Art Exhibition and for the International Architecture Exhibition, and continues the great tradition of the Festival of Contemporary Music, the Theatre Festival, now flanked by the Festival of Contemporary Dance.
The Giffoni Film Festival was born in 1971 with the aim of promoting and developing cinema for young people, elevating it from the marginal position it had back in those days. Over the years the number of jurors has by far out grown 2000 and they come from over 44 different countries embracing all the world?s continents. The age of jurors ranges from 3 to 17 and they are placed into four official competitive sections according to their age group. In the past 12 years Giffoni Experience has not only established itself as a festival recognized for its quality but especially as a 'Cultural Company? ? a company that produces culture and employs full time tens of young people organizing events throughout the year.
After the first four extraordinarily popular editions with the public, the International Rome Film Festival will be back in Autumn with films, retrospectives, meetings and major international stars.
Editions are based on a blend of popular vocation and quality culture. This combination enables the event to attract both film fans as well as those who have never taken part in festival before. The entire city of Rome provides the magnificent backdrop to the event, with the Auditorium Parco della Musica (designed by Renzo Piano) and the Cinema Village acting as its nerve center.
Held yearly since 1953, the Ravello Festival, also known as the ?Wagner Festival,? is an annual summer festival of music and arts held in the town of Ravello on the Amalfi coast in the Campania region. The event has grown into an almost two-month-long presentation of a wide variety of music featuring large orchestras, chamber groups, jazz, art shows, dance, photographic exhibits, discussion groups and a chance to meet and talk with the featured artists, many of whom are of world renown.
The Umbria Jazz Festival started in 1973 as an International Jazz Festival and it has developed into what is now regarded as one of the best Jazz festivals in the world. The festival is held annually, usually in July, in the city of Perugia.
The appointment with the Salone, Torino?s international book fair, returns every year in May at Lingotto, the famous Fiat plant with the spiral ramp and roof-top test track, a masterpiece of industrial architecture. The Turin Salone is an important commercial showcase, an immense bookshop and a cultural festival all in one. The Salone has grown to the current 300,000 visitors and over 1,400 exhibitors.
Taormina Arte is one of the most famous music, theater and dance festivals, organized in Sicily since 1983. The exceptional frame for pop and classical concerts, opera and important performances often recorded by television is the Ancient Theatre. Inside the program of Taormina Arte there is the Taormina Film Fest, the well-known cinema festival, the heir of the Cinema Festival of Messina and Taormina, born in 1960, which for about twenty years has guessed the David of Donatello Awards with the participations of the most famous Italian film stars. During the Taormina Film Fest now are awarded the Silver Ribbons, prize created by the Italian Film Journalists. Since 2005, in October, Taormina Arte has been organizing the Giuseppe Sinopoli Festival, a festival dedicates completely to the great conductor, died in 2001, for many years the artistic director of Taormina Arte.
