Live Nation Italy, Vivo Concerti and Friends and Partners have teamed up to organise a week of music events at the 15,000-capacity Verona Arena in support of the country’s live music industry.

From Verona We Turn On the Music (Da Verona accendiamo la musica), launched by Italian social enterprise Music Innovation Hub and produced in collaboration with Verona Arena, Gianmarco Mazzi, R&P Legal, Librerie Feltrinelli, Vertigo and Magellano, will involve the work of over 70 artist and 350 musicians and technicians.

Kicking off on 2 September with the Music Awards, the event will wrap up on 6 September with Heroes – The Future Begins Now (Il futuro inizia adesso), a five-hour concert that will be streamed live from the open-air arena.

During the week, Italian music business professionals will lead workshops and talks from the arena.

Live Nation Italy, Vivo Concerti and Friends&Partners have teamed up to organise a week of music events at the 15,000-capacity Verona Arena in support of the country’s live music industry

Tickets for the concert cost €9.90 with all proceeds from the week going to the Music Innovation Hub’s Let’s Support Music fund to support those working in Italy’s live industry. Frontline health workers will be invited to stream the event free of charge.

There is currently a capacity limit in place in Italy of 1,000 people for outdoor events and 200 for indoor shows.

Italian promoter Barley Arts has produced a set of guidelines, detailing the ways in which outdoor events may reopen for larger audiences and laying out a series of different scenarios for event organisers to utilise spaces including car parks, courtyards and public squares.

The 65-page document includes advice on ticketing, which is to be done digitally and in advance; venue entry, where sanitisation and health checks will take place; seating plans, with alternate rows and seats used where possible; audience movement, which is to be regulated by the creation of specific routes to and from seats and other facilities; artists, who should be tested 48 hours before a show and remain six metres away from the audience; and crew, who should work in pre-defined ‘bubbles’ and wear suitable protective equipment.

Photo: Claconvr/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) (cropped)

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Lana Del Rey has called off upcoming arena dates in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, in the latest in a series of high-profile acts to see tours hampered by illness.

The Primary Talent-repped singer was set to perform a run of dates starting tomorrow (21 February) at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome, and visiting the Accorhotels Arena in Paris, London’s O2 Arena, Manchester Arena, the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Birmingham Resorts World Arena, Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena, before finishing at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne on 3 March. A ninth arena date is set for Italy’s Arena Di Verona in June, which is still going ahead.

The star is also due to make appearances at We Love Green Festival in Paris, Primavera Sound Barcelona and its Portuguese sister event, Nos Primavera Sound Porto in June. Last week, Glastonbury Festival director Emily Eavis announced that Lana Del Rey would also perform on the festival’s Pyramid stage this summer.

“It’s with regret that Lana Del Rey has announced that she has been forced to cancel her entire upcoming EU/UK tour due to illness”

The O2 Arena broke the news earlier this morning (20 February), stating: “It’s with regret that Lana Del Rey has announced that she has been forced to cancel her entire upcoming EU/UK tour due to illness.”

The singer released her own statement, apologising for the cancellation, saying, “Sorry to let everyone down so last minute but this illness has taken me by surprise and have totally lost my singing voice. Dr has advised 4 weeks off for the moment. I hate to let everyone down but I need to get well.”

Fans are advised to contact their original point of purchase for refund enquiries.

Photo: Beatriz Alvani/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) (cropped)

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