From Mi Ami to Poplar and Red Valley, music festivals generate belonging
The three events have now carved out a significant place for themselves on the national and international scene
Key points
There are those who describe them as a great cathartic and collective rito, helping to rediscover a sense of community and to break away from the monotony of routine or the screen of a phone. And those, on the other hand, who celebrate them as launching pads for artists who, passing from their stages and to the sound of their own tracks, have made it to the top of the charts or into the ears of an ever-widening audience. The dimension of the music festivals that, especially in the summer season, dot the billboards of Italian cities, seems to be that of a suspended time, where connoisseurs and laymen, youngsters and adults alike forget responsibilities and commitments to indulge in a moment of healthy and joyful lightness.
Mi Ami Festival, Italy's indie presidium
Joy and lightness have, for twenty years now, been the leitmotif of Mi Ami, a cult event at the end of May for Milan (and not only) and a virtuous example of an event that, not letting itself be overtaken by fashions, has never lost the magic of its beginnings.
"Mi Ami was born in 2005 as a small festival, with a small budget and the idea of having independent and unknown artists play to support them and make this new music known," says Stefano Bottura, co-founder and director of Mi Ami. "From the beginning to today, the impact of the event on the Italian music scene has certainly changed: we have helped create a a large audience, we have raised the quality both in production - increasing the number of stages from two to five in the last edition, for example - and in the selection of artists, and there has been a real effort to achieve the initial vision and objective: to create an international music festival, such as there are few in Italia, starting from an unusual content, namely Italian music. In 2005 no one listened to it, now everyone listens to just that. We went, therefore, almost in the opposite direction. And now we have started to introduce a breath of Europe, inviting also international names to broaden our gaze and feed this discourse made of continuous research, fire and energy'.
And it is this dedication that has transformed Mi Ami into a transgenerational evergreen: "The festival has never wanted to be a product to sell tickets or push sponsors and, without rushing the stages and with organic growth, it has turned into a valuable project for the country's cultural scene and a key junction for the music industry," Bottura notes. "With a precise role: to be a catalyst of energies, create human value, to be a moment of discovery of the new, to give a showcase to outstanding musicians who may have made contact with a record company that had seen them perform with us, and to give the audience a unique sense of unity and belonging. Because our community knows that the festival is a magical moment, you never return home the same as you left".
The facts speak for themselves: from 2005 to the present day, there have been many groups, singer-songwriters and song-writers who, starting from Mi Ami or treading the boards, have gone on to become some of the most iconic names on record rosters. With professional trajectories that continue to reap extraordinary results: "Among those that come to mind is certainly Calcutta, who went on to become a giant in his genre. Or Cosmo and Brunori Sas'.
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