100k-cap Italy concert venue up and running
The largest outdoor music venue in Europe is now up and running in Italy after its opening was delayed due to the pandemic.
Construction work on the 100,000-cap RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, near Bologna, started in 2018 and the venue was originally set to open its doors in September 2020 with a 30th anniversary show by local superstar Luciano Ligabue.
Following two postponements caused by Covid-19, Ligabue finally christened the arena this June, almost two years later than originally planned, with Harry Styles booked to play on 22 July next year as part of his Love On Tour European run.
Designed by Iotti + Pavarani Architects, Tassoni & Partners and Studio LSA, the venue is operated by the SPV C.Volo network of seven enterprises and was built on unused land at the Reggio Emilia Airport, with audio company RCF acquiring the naming rights. The project has echoes of Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Germany, which has served as a public park and outdoor concert venue since closing in the 2000s.
“RCF Arena’s aim is to make Reggio Emilia the capital of live music, and to create a Music Valley of international scope”
“Airports, like other large infrastructures or urban voids, often entail the availability of extremely large spaces, proximity to road infrastructure, distance from population centres, a hybrid and surreal character of uninhabited space but ready to come alive at events,” architect Paolo Iotti tells Fast Company.
The RCF Arena, which “features a slope of 5% to guarantee the best possible views and acoustics”, is being managed by C.Volo partner Arena Campovolo S.r.l., formed by Ligabue’s manager Claudio Maioli and Ferdinando Salzano, director of CTS Eventim-owned Friends & Partners.
“RCF Arena Reggio Emilia aims to make the most of the potential for growth in the live events sector to boost tourism in the region,” says a press release. RCF Arena’s aim is to make Reggio Emilia the capital of live music, and to create a Music Valley of international scope – deservedly joining the system of valleys in the region dedicated to motor vehicles, food and wellness – able to welcome, thrill and amaze people from all over Europe.”
PHOTO: Iotti + Pavarani Architetti, Arch, Guido Tassoni, Lauro Sacchetti Associati
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
What Covid? Europe’s largest music venue opens
Europe’s largest outdoor music venue, the new RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, northern Italy, opens tonight (10 September) with a performance by Italian singer Luciano Ligabue.
Ligabue – a local superstar who has sold more than 11 million records and played 800+ shows over a four-decade career – will be the first artist to play the new venue, which has a capacity of more than 100,000.
Construction on RCF Arena, which was unveiled to the live industry at ILMC in March, began in April 2018 and is 80% complete, despite interruption caused by Covid-19.
The coronavirus crisis means tonight’s Ligabue show will take place without an audience; however, the singer will return to RCF Arena next 19 June for a full concert. A second show, Una. Nessuna. Centomila, with Fiorella Mannoia, Emma, Alessandra Amoroso, Giorgia, Elisa, Gianna Nannini, Laura Pausini (also postponed from this month), will be held the following weekend, on 26 June.
Both events are organised by Arena Campovolo, one of seven companies comprising the arena’s operator, C.Volo.
“We are convinced that with the commitment of all partners and the support of the institutions, we will make this project successful”
Located in an urban park just outside the city, RCF Arena is built to a modular design to accomodate different sizes of events, from the full 100,000-capacity Green Arena to smaller concert and ‘reception’ areas.
The venue is built on a 5% (2.86°) slope to ensure clear visuals to the stage, and also boasts high-quality VIP areas and other facilities.
“Today, we celebrate the largest live entertainment arena in Europe,” comments Stefano Bonaccini, governor of the Emilia-Romagna region. “It seemed like a dream – even more impossible after the terrible pandemic still in progress – but we have pursued it with even more conviction, convinced that music, and more generally knowledge and culture, will be the engines of the restart.”
Roberto Olivi, president of Coopservice, another C.Volo partner, adds: “We participated in this enterprise because we were born and raised in this land and we like challenges.
“Of course, Covid-19 is putting this initiative to the test, but we are convinced that with the commitment of all partners and the support of the institutions we will make this project successful – thus helping to relaunch the vibrant culture and entertainment sector, which can be an instrument of economic and social revitalisation.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.