Various Voices

From June 14 to 18 Various Voices, Europe's largest LGBTQ+ choir festival, a non-competitive event held every four years in a different European city, arrives in Italy, in Bologna, for the first time. The event will involve more than 3,500 choristers, for a total of 107 choirs from Europe and across the world, who will sing and perform in five days full of music and performances in the Unesco city of music.

The festival will touch some of the emilian capital's iconic venues, such as Piazza Maggiore, Auditorium Manzoni, Arena del Sole, Teatro Duse, Oratorio San Filippo Neri, DumBO, MAMbo and the International Music Museum and Library. As a prequel to the festival, the Various Voices Italy Tour will be held on June 12 and 13 in Turin, Milan, Bergamo, Padua, Florence, Perugia and Rome, with events and concerts hosted by local LGBTQ+ choirs.

The main purpose of the festival is to spread, through music, messages, demands, needs and instances of the LGBTQ+ community, to promote a more welcoming and inclusive society. The festival was strongly supported in Italy by Italy's first LGBTQ+ men's choir Komos, awarded Bologna Ambassador 2019, which has also participated in the last three editions.