Lucca Summer Festival
What are the best things to do in Lucca during the summer? We can relax in the countryside, have a little tour of the walls, go to the sea or hike the mountains during the day, but Lucca’s summer evenings are always full of events. The biggest and most desired is definitely the Lucca Summer Festival: a music festival in the middle of the old town that always attracts fans from all over Italy and the world.
Every year, the city of Puccini is transformed into an open-air stage for some of the biggest artists in the contemporary pop and rock music scene: Italian and international bands and musicians take turns on the big stage in Piazza Napoleone and on the one of the historic walls, performing under the stars in a truly unique setting.
Lucca Summer Festival 2025
We celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Lucca Summer Festival in 2022, and the billboard was filled with incredible names never seen before in 2023. Every expectation was exceeded thanks to the centenary of Giacomo Puccini’s death in 2024.
And what about 2025?
Never to be contradicted, the most anticipated music festival of the year includes a line-up of internationally renowned artists and a lot of unique events.
The dates of the Lucca Summer Festival 2025 have been revealed for months now, by keeping fans’ curiosity high. Maybe the organization still has some news in store, but we know that the event will take place from June 28 to July 27: a month full of live performances, with some of the biggest names in contemporary music panorama.
As every year, the program has been carefully curated to offer a variety of musical genres. There will be world-famous artists such as Santana, Nick Cave, Jennifer Lopez, and Alanis Morissette, but also many names from the most appreciated Italian music scene, such as Ghali and Irama. And there is no shortage of great classics: Riccardo Cocciante and Antonello Venditti will make the city dream with their unforgettable songs.
Undoubtedly among the most anticipated performances of the festival will be those of Thirty Seconds To Mars and the Scorpions, but also that of Jennifer Lopez, who has chosen Lucca as the only Italian date of her tour on July 21.
The program of the Lucca Summer Festival 2025:
- June 28: Antonello Venditti
- July 1: Dream Theater
- July 3: Santana
- July 4: Irama
- July 5: Thirty Seconds To Mars
- July 6: Till Lindemann
- July 10: Scorpions
- July 11: Ghali
- July 12: Riccardo Cocciante
- July 13: Robert Plant (Special Guest: Keb’ Mo’)
- July 17: Nick Cave
- July 19: Nile Rodgers and CHIC
- July 20: Pet Shop Boys
- July 21: Jennifer Lopez
- July 22: Riccardo Muti
- July 23: Alanis Morissette
- July 24: Simple Minds
- July 26: Morrissey
- July 27: Bryan Adams
A History of Bringing Top Talent to Italy
The Lucca Summer Festival has always been a popular event for internationally renowned artists. Among the most beloved Italian singers who have graced this stage, we mention Laura Pausini, Pino Daniele, Elisa, Mario Biondi, Giorgia, Francesco De Gregori, Ennio Morricone, and Zucchero Fornaciari. Notable foreign singers and successful bands include David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, Elton John, Anastacia and Green Day.
In addition, some editions of the festival have been particularly noteworthy. How can we forget the summer of 2017, when the Rolling Stones held their only Italian concert of the No Filter European tour in Lucca, recording a record attendance in the city of about 55,000? The festival stage was positioned outside the city walls for the first time for the occasion: an event that set the tone for many other concerts at the historic walls, such as Ed Sheeran’s 2024 double date.
2009 was certainly another memorable year, when the Dave Matthews Band gave a concert lasting more than three and a half hours, the longest performance of their career. The DMB Europe 2009 box set was taken from that concert.
This year the Festival promises to be just as spectacular, with a billboard so rich, curated and varied that will bring everyone together.
If you are planning to attend one of these incredible concerts, L’Antica Bifore Guest House gives you the opportunity to stay in a historic 12th-century building in the heart of the old town of Lucca. You can immerse yourself in the medieval atmosphere of this magnificent Tuscan city, and enjoy the experience of the Lucca Summer Festival 2025 at its best.
