Barezzi Festival is a cultural event that offers an intimate and exclusive experience within unique and evocative venues, such as 19th-century Italian theatres. It is magical to be enveloped in the spell of music and, under the majestic and imposing skies of the theatres, to carry these sensations around the city for three days. At the heart of the festival is music, complemented by the gastronomy, art, and nature of the Parma region. Through this deep immersion, you share an authentic, intimate, and engaging experience, marked by quality and excellence, in stark contrast to large mass events. The Barezzi Festival invites its audience, supporters, and patrons to strengthen this alliance to promote talent, defend culture, reward sacrifice, dedication, and, above all, passion for music.
Barezzi Festival is not a place where you miss the band you’re interested in because you’re queuing for an improbable sandwich or a warm beer, where you hear your favourite song echoing from afar while waiting for your turn to use the restroom, or where you find yourself attending the birthday party of a certain Giorgina, surrounded by ‘best wishes to her.’ Even worse, you might be disturbed by a choir because, apparently, there’s a nice person next to you who’s not for you. In a playful way, this illustrates that after many years, experiences, and sacrifices, the now mature Barezzi Festival is aware of what it is and, above all, what it wants to be and offer. So, every year on the second weekend of November, you can travel to Parma and prepare for three genuine days of music, gastronomy, and art, with concerts by artists from around the world. And if you can’t wait for November, discover The Barezzi Way.
After the wonderful experience of 2023, which included the first collaboration in Reggio Emilia and the sold-out performance of Calexico’s only Italian date, the Barezzi Festival has decided to keep moving forward. It plans to use the rest of the year to explore new paths, discover, and engage with other realities outside the walls of Parma throughout November.
Thus, the Festival is inaugurating a new initiative: each year, the Barezzi Way will feature concerts in unique and evocative locations outside the Parma region, allowing audiences to experience a fragment of the Barezzi Festival’s essence.
This year, following the Via Emilia, the Barezzi Way will not only include the Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia and the Teatro Verdi in Busseto but will also establish a fruitful collaboration with the Teatro Municipale in Piacenza and the Teatro delle Celebrazioni in Bologna. Four high-profile concerts await us in three exceptional theatres across the Emilia region. + info
The Best of Independent Music
The new explorations of the Barezzi Way are complemented by the Barezzi Off concerts. At Borgo Santa Brigida in the late evening, we now have a fixed appointment. The most interesting and talented artists from the independent scene call this place home. These musicians may not necessarily belong to mainstream or commercial circuits but are well-known to a large audience of fans. Their records represent extraordinary expressive novelties, becoming cult objects. This provides an opportunity, within the Barezzi Festival, for a genuine insight into highly talented artists. The night is Barezzi Off, and when you wake up, the gastronomy and art of Parma await you.
OUR FIRST 18 YEARS
Franco Battiato, Herbie Hancock, Paolo Conte, Philip Glass, Rufus Wainwrigth, Wim Mertens
Raphael Gualazzi, Motta, Calcutta, The Giornalisti, Levante,Nu Guinea, Iosonouncane, Dente, Benjamin Clementine, Michael Kiwanuka, Fontaines D.C., Brunori Sas, Daniela Pes, The Last Dinner Party
Kula Shaker, Daniele Silvestri, Vinicio Capossela, Marlene Kuntz, Carmen Consoli, Vasco Brondi, The Notwist, Calexico, Anna Calvi, Brad Mehldau, Echo and The Bunnyman, Apparat, Nouvelle Vague, Nils Frahm, Maria Gadú, Blonde Rehdead, Jesus and Mary Chain
Franco Battiato, Herbie Hancock, Paolo Conte, Philip Glass, Rufus Wainwrigth, Wim Mertens