Expo: Italy Registers Record Attendance at Pop-Music Fest

Osaka: The first edition of the Italy Pop-Music Fest, a festival organized by the Italy Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka to promote contemporary Italian music on the most important international stage of the universal exhibition, has wrapped up with a record number of attendees. Over 30,000 people over the course of only three days sang and danced to the music of Italy’s Negramaro band and singers and songwriters Elisa and Achille Lauro.

According to Ansa News Agency, the performances drew large crowds with concert-goers forming long queues since the early afternoon in front of the Arena Matsuri hosting the concerts. “We are happy about the public’s strong interest in Italian music here in Japan: seeing over 30,000 people in just three days going wild to the rhythm of the most important representatives of contemporary Italian pop music has been splendid,” stated Mario Vattani, the Commissioner General for Italy at Expo 2025 Osaka.

According to Vattani, “this is the updated image of Italy we are bringing to Japan, also with music, because even more Italy is necessary in Asia, including for our exceptional artists.” Italy presented itself in the most important venue of Expo 2025 Osaka with the best of Italian contemporary music.

The initiative was organized with the support of Friends and Partners, an international company specialized in event management. Institutional support for the initiative was strong, from the Prime Minister’s office, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – with the headquarters of Italy’s embassy in Tokyo, of the consulate in Osaka and of the Italian cultural institutes of Tokyo and Osaka.