Music takes center stage twice this week. Just 400 meters from the Teatro Ariston, where the Sanremo Italian Music Festival is in full swing, another stage comes to life: the Christian Music Festival. Now in its fourth edition, it takes place from February 13 to 15 at the Antico Teatro della Federazione Operaia in Sanremo.
But don’t call them church songs. “That’s sacred music. Christian music is nothing more than what you could hear all day on Italian networks. It’s not a separate genre—the distinction lies in the lyrics,” explains Fabrizio Venturi, the festival’s creator and artistic director.
The origins of the Festival and the “american” dream
The idea of a Christian Music Festival in Italy seemed bold when it first took shape in the streets of Sanremo, in the context of the centenary of John Paul II. Today, however, the festival is sponsored by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies and aims to expand beyond Europe, with an American edition in the works. “This summer, we brought the festival to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. But my initial goal was to take it to New York for Columbus Day.“ A dream that will indeed come true this year, with the first edition scheduled for October.
Among the participants, some will also be flying to New York, where Christian music enjoys great popularity. Harlem, a neighborhood in New York, is home to the famous Harlem Gospel Choir, a 40-member group that performs worldwide. In Italy, however, the situation is different. “The first year, the festival’s official radio was Radio Vaticana, and I noticed that the event was almost being ghettoized,” Venturi explains. “It may sound absurd, but even they didn’t have a dedicated space for Christian music—it was created only later. I never agreed with the idea of having to ‘announce’ this musical genre. You don’t do that with rock or pop—you just play them. You shouldn’t classify it, because there’s a risk of confusing it with church music. Why educate instead of miseducate?”
Jubilee and future perspectives
The 2025 edition also aligns with the Jubilee and is dedicated to the Pope. With media partners such as Radio Mater and a willingness to experiment—also through live social media broadcasts—the festival continues to look toward the future, constantly evolving.
While the short-term goal is to strengthen the festival’s international dimension, the biggest challenge remains making Christian music a stable presence in Italy. Not necessarily within church walls, but also in front of large audiences—perhaps in stadiums.
