The stunning Sanremo Festival stage has been revealed! Broadcaster RAI gave us an sneak peak today on their website, and the father-daughter set designer duo of Gaetano and Maria Chiara Castelli have done an outstanding job! This is the first time Gaetano has worked inside the Ariston Theatre and the fifth time he has teamed up with his daughter.

The central staircase and curved lines are a nod to Amadeus’ first Sanremo Festival in 2002. The architects have kept the big spaces for the orchestra due to the physical distancing requirements. Yet it’s not all bad news, as we’ve already reported, the Ariston Theatre will have its seats full come opening night of Sanremo next Tuesday, 1st February.

The set designers Gaetano and Maria Chiara Castelli had this to say about their new stage:

We found our inspiration in the more ‘traditional’ sets starting from the rediscovery of the color white, with three-dimensional perforated materials, and we revisited an element such as the curtain, making it super light and transparent, in front of the proscenium (the part of the stage in front of the curtain). We have also reduced the square meters of LED walls in favour of stage construction and lighting.

As for technology, it is not completely eliminated, but it will make its appearance in three large ellipses of six and nine meters, all covered with lights and motorized, able to offer director Stefano Vicario and director of photography Mario Catapano great visual versatility and almost infinite movement opportunities.

The work of building the stage began last October. The whole thing was built in Rome, and then dismantled, shipped to Sanremo, and reassembled in the Ariston Theatre like a big puzzle, starting in December.

Gaetano spoke about this process as well:

It was a great engineering feat completed with the contribution of an exceptional team of professionals with whom we have worked down to the millimeter to make the most of this Sanremo Festival.

To admire the new beautiful look of the Ariston Theater, we’ll all have to wait until 1st February for the live broadcast on RAI1, of the first evening of the Sanremo 2022 Festival.

Are you a fan of the new design? How does it compare to previous ones? For instance to 2020 when Ricchi e Poveri surpirsed us with their hits “Se m’innamoro”, “Sarà perché ti amo”, and “Mamma Maria”. Let us know your thoughts below or on our social media!