The Verdi Festival, named after Italy's greatest composer - Giuseppe Verdi, is an annual event in the cities of Parma and Bucceto and is a magnet for millions of music lovers from all over the world.
On 23 August 2018, a three-year memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Verdi Festival and the Tbilisi State Opera and Ballet Theatre. According to the memorandum, the theatre has been granted the exclusive right to host the Verdi Festival. In 2019, the groundwork was laid for an unprecedented event: the Verdi Festival crossed Italy's borders for the first time to Georgia.
The initiative, which foresees close cultural cooperation between the two countries, was supported by the Italian Senate and Government. The festival was held with the support of the Georgian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport as part of the "Georgia, Europe" programme.
Mediaset S.p.A., the largest private media company in Europe, broadcasting in fifteen European countries, was a partner of the festival. The award-winning film crew arrived in Georgia with full technical equipment and provided high quality coverage of the festival and the country. Mediaset covered not only the festival, but also Georgia's cultural heritage: historical monuments, masterpieces of intangible heritage, maximising the unique tourist potential of our country.
The project, which aims to turn Georgia into a regional cultural centre, promotes the development of cultural tourism in the country, promotes Georgia as a tourist destination in the world, promotes the Black Sea Arena and gives classical music lovers the opportunity to see quality performances by the world's leading theatres.