Alpi Apuane Festival

A stage for new Italian music

The Alpi Apuane Festival has become a staple of the summer in Carrara, in the heart of the Province of Massa-Carrara, Tuscany. Created to give a voice to emerging music, the festival is an entirely free competition aimed at young talent, bands, and solo artists from all over Italy. The event aims to support, promote, and amplify the talent and creativity of the new protagonists of the music scene, offering them a professional stage and a concrete showcase.

Who organizes the festival

The event is curated by Musicantiere Toscana and the MusicAtelier association, in collaboration with the Municipality of Carrara. The artistic direction is entrusted to producer and publisher Alessandro Di Dio Masa, a key figure in the Italian independent music scene. Over the years, the competition has become a recognized launchpad: past participants include artists who have since achieved national fame, such as Anna Castiglia, winner of the 2022 edition, and the project Sintesi, which later also excelled at the Castrocaro Festival.

How the competition works

Candidates aged 15 and over can register for free by submitting an original song in Italian and/or dialect. Participation criteria require a maximum duration of four minutes and a track that has not exceeded 50,000 views or streams on major platforms like YouTube and Spotify. There is no entry fee, neither for artists nor for the public attending the final evening.

• Free registration for artists, online via the official Musicantiere website
• Selection of tracks by the artistic direction and a jury of professionals
• Final evening live in Piazza Giovanni Menconi, open to the public for free

Prizes

The overall winner has the opportunity to professionally record an original song with the Musicantiere label, including publication and promotion on major digital platforms. The second and third-place winners receive a dedicated press campaign designed to provide visibility to their musical project.

Marina di Carrara and the Apuan Alps

The setting for the final evening is Piazza Giovanni Menconi, in the coastal district of Marina di Carrara, just a few steps from the sea and facing the imposing Apuan Alps, the marble mountains that give the festival its name. It is a suggestive context where the Tuscan musical tradition meets the desire for discovery of the new generations, in an evening of live music that is free and open to all.