Varignana Music Festival Returns for Seventh Edition After Pandemic Pause

After a pandemic-enforced hiatus, the Varignana Music Festival returns for its seventh edition from July 8 to 16, 2021. The classical music festival, which has animated summers in Varignana since 2014, takes place at the scenic Palazzo di Varignana Resort & SPA in Castel San Pietro Terme, near Bologna. Born from a partnership between Palazzo di Varignana and Fondazione Musica Insieme, the festival features outdoor performances on the Terrazza Bentivoglio and the Anfiteatro sul Lago, the latter nestled among the vineyards of the resort's agricultural estate. Notable performers include cellist Giovanni Sollima, pianists Alexander Romanovsky and Alexandra Dovgan, as well as Elena Borin, Alessandro Goldoni, Gianfranco Montresor, and the Tango Sonos ensemble led by violist Anna Serova, with tango dancers Andrea Vighi and Chiara Benati. The festival's unique format includes gourmet dinners with artists after concerts on the Terrazza Bentivoglio, while street food is offered before performances at the Anfiteatro sul Lago. Palazzo di Varignana, originally an 18th-century country castle (Palazzo Bargellini-Bentivoglio), has been restored into a luxury resort with 134 rooms, a spa, three restaurants, and its own agricultural estate spanning over 200 hectares, producing extra virgin olive oil, jams, fruit juices, and honey.