Italy’s most famous song competition is back for another year at Theatre Ariston, which has been the venue for the festival since 1977.

The official title, Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo, is held in the Ligurian seaside town of the same name and, this year 25 artists will compete for the winning spot over five nights from February 1st – 5th.

As it’s been held continuously since 1951, Sanremo takes the title of the longest-running national televised singing competition.

That makes Sanremo even older than the Eurovision song contest – and it was in fact the inspiration for the famously cheesy European music competition.

READ ALSO: Sanremo: Ten things to know about Italy’s answer to Eurovision

Within Italy, the history, and therefore nostalgia, is just one reason why most of the country will be glued to their television screens all week.

The cultural event seems to whip up excitement among broadcasters, journalists and viewers alike, as social media channels are awash with promotions and jokes about the participants ahead of the contest.

At first glance however, the appeal of the show is not always that obvious to outsiders.

So just what is it about the festival that pulls together an entire nation, regardless of whether they fall into the ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ camp?

Here’s a deeper look into this curious Italian tradition.

It creates icons

This is where the Sanremo Music Festival differs from Eurovision: it is often a springboard to real fame and launches songs that stand the test of time.

It has led to the success of epochal songs such as the 1958 winning track ‘Volare‘ (the real title is actually ‘Nel blu dipinto di blu‘) by Domenico Modugno, ‘Quando, quando, quando‘ by Tony Renis, ‘Che sarà‘ by Ricchi e Poveri and ‘Felicità‘ by Al Bano e Romina.

Singers such as Andrea Bocelli and Laura Pausini can thank this music competition for their careers too. Last year’s winners Mäneskin, who went on to take the Eurovision trophy with the same song Zitti e Buoni, were also launched into the spotlight by Sanremo and will return as guests in 2022.

READ ALSO: ‘Zitti e buoni’: The Italian vocab you need to understand Italy’s Eurovision winner

If you’re new to Italy’s most famous music festival and slightly non-plussed by it, rest assured that it is in fact globally renowned and pulls in the already rich and famous. Previous big-name international acts include Stevie Wonder, Cher, Shirley Bassey, Robbie Williams and Queen.

The audience is involved

Some Italians will tell you they watch the event for the whole five days straight, others will profess they’re not (but they really are).

This is one Italian tradition that gets everyone involved, which is now much more interactive thanks to the public online voting element.

Each act will perform their original song with the winner eventually selected by both a jury and the online vote.

After each of the 25 artists has performed their song twice, Friday is something of a break as international and Italian cover songs are performed.

READ ALSO: Sanremo: Andrea Bocelli’s duet with son brings down the house

Then, all the original songs are performed once more on Saturday, before the winner is announced.

It is almost laughably long-winded

How many times each act performs their song gives you a clue to how long each day drags on.

This aspect of the festival is light-heartedly mocked each year on social media, as posts and memes describe how dogs will need to take themselves on walks or how, thanks to the competition running until the small hours of the morning, you’ll struggle to simply keep awake throughout.

And it begins… #Sanremo2022 pic.twitter.com/M7F1DUaL1o

— Karli Drinkwater (@karlibubbles) February 1, 2022

The social media participation

In fact, the memes and social media gags are now just as anticipated as the event itself. Some viewers joke about the pain of watching the songs, but how it’s all worth it for the jokes online.

TODAY IS THE DAY#Sanrem2022 #Sanremo
Guardare Sanremo Guardarlo per
per le canzoni i meme pic.twitter.com/3xmyJGahpF

— Mary⁷🎈I Miss Shownu -432🧸 (@ChimmyMoochii) February 1, 2022

Tomorrow Sanremo begins which means MEME MATERIAL pic.twitter.com/4gsWONwDqr

— Dany The Chill (@sassynerdsblog) January 31, 2022

As some point out, this could be more of an attraction for younger members of the audience. Any slip-up, such as that of the Italian singers Bugo and Morgan, who were supposed to perform the song ‘Sincero’ together in 2020, are ripe for getting ripped.

When it was almost two o’clock in the morning and it was their turn at last, Morgan went on stage alone and started to sing, changing the lyrics in an apparent attack on Bugo, who then left the stage even before he had the chance to sing a note. They were then disqualified from the competition.

Sanremo is this big festival of italian music where singers from all over the countries compete to get the prize + the right to compete at the Eurovision Song Contest. Old people love it, young people watch it in hope someone does something that can be layered as a meme.
exhibit: pic.twitter.com/yJeUq2PalQ

— FGO with a side of History! (@squidslibrary) January 29, 2022

To join in with the song and slating, broadcaster RAI1 will be screening the competition every evening from 20.35, and in streaming on Rai Play throughout.

The event is back to 100 percent capacity with the Covid ‘super green pass‘ after it being held behind closed doors to an empty theatre last year.