The sounds of Italy will echo through the streets at Italian Day on the Drive this Sunday (June 9), with several big acts visiting from the Bel Paese.

The music happens at the stages at East 2nd Avenue, Grandview Park, and East 3rd Avenue’s Piazza Moda throughout the day, with DJs stationed at the north and south ends of Commercial Drive to keep the party moving.

Here are just a few of the performers you can search out that day. 

Notte Italiana

Straight from Italy, the trio of lead singer David Pacini, guitarist Francesco Milani, and bassist Simone Beato brings to life the great Italian classics on all three stages.

Marco Boni

This 15-year-old Italian singer has been wowing crowds since taking part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2018. Expect him to perform a mix of Italian and English songs as he takes all three stages at the fest.

Danilo Ciaccia

Originally from Abruzzo, this songwriter, musician, and singer is a familiar face on Italian television. He’s probably best known for “Signori (forever)”, a rap-meets-world-music serenade with a music video shot in both Vancouver and Italy, a hymn to love and brotherhood that pays tribute to the world’s Italian diaspora.

Other highlights

Visitors can also find local Italian-Canadian musical performances on the 2nd Avenue and Grandview Park stages, with appearances by restaurateur and showman Federico Fuoco, along with international performing artist Carmelina Cupo, who gives her own fun twist on Italian favourites and Italian-American classics.

Want to get in the mood in the run-up to Italian Day? June is Italian Heritage Month, and that means an array of other concerts happening at the hub of Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre.

As part of the celebrations, on Thursday (June 6) one of Italy’s most famous ballroom dance bands, Orchestra Casadei, arrives straight from Emilia-Romagna.

The evening before, Opera Night: A Three Tenor Tribute to Pavarotti celebrates one of the art form’s biggest stars, featuring knockout vocalists Scott Rumble, Sunny Shams, and Turgut Akmete, accompanied by pianist Roger Parton.

And later in the month, on June 16, don’t miss Maurizio Guarini, of the famed prog-rock band Goblin, playing the live score to the 1911 Italian silent film L’Inferno at the Rio Theatre. The flick has been restored by Cineteca di Bologna, and it’s loosely adapted from “Inferno”, the first canticle of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.