On the Hunt for Sanremo Festival VIPs: here’s where to find them..
Hotels, squares, nightlife. Here’s where to find VIPs during the Sanremo Festival!
It’s nearly time. Sanremo fever is now sky-high, and so is the VIP hunt. Singers, actors, musicians, comedians, models: some people will do anything for an autograph, a handshake, let alone selfie with one of their idols. But where do the VIPs hide in Sanremo? Where can you find them? What are the places to approach them? Here are the Sanremo venues where the VIPs hunt!
1. Corso Matteotti
San Remo’s Dolce Vita street: Corso Matteotti, the most elegant street in the city, a favourite shopping street, the promenade is home to the Ariston theatre, the temple of the Sanremo Festival. In the mid-19th century it was named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the king of Italian unification, and only later was named after Giacomo Matteotti. It is the ideal place to see VIPs on the famous Red (or Green) Carpet. But if you want an extra chance, try after the shows at the back of the Ariston on Via Roma. Sometimes celebrities prefer to use the emergency exit…
2. What to see: Piazza Sardi
Located right behind the Ariston, this little square in front of the sea is home to numerous restaurants. After a night of singing or after rehearsals for a show, our favourite stars get hungry. A hunger that often causes bills to skyrocket with gourmet dishes washed down with fine wines and champagnes. So Piazza Sardi, which is right on the doorstep, comes in handy. If a VIP is spotted through the window while dining in Piazza Sardi, the word spreads immediately and a crowd of fans and paparazzi flashes await them outside.
3. Piazza Bresca
After dinner in Piazza Sardi, the evening often continues in Piazza Bresca, the salon of Sanremo’s night life, born from what was once the city’s fishing village, opposite the bike path, the old port and the sea. Over time, the place has turned into a tourist area a few metres from Corso Matteotti, the central shopping street. Piazza Bresca does not just come alive at night. In reality, it is a small world that wakes up in the morning when the fishermen arrive to supply the restaurants with fish. The well-known mild climate of the City of Flowers makes it possible to dine al fresco from early spring until early winter. The restaurants are renowned for the excellence of their cuisine. They are frequented by locals, tourists and VIPs of the Italian Song Festival and are a point of reference during the year-round events in Sanremo.
4. Hotel des Etrangeres
Higher and higher! Ever closer to them, to the VIPs. If you are a true VIP hunter, you cannot miss the Hotel des Etrangers. It might look like a simple hotel in the city centre, but it is an elegant residence and that is the reason why it is chosen by many celebrities who come to Sanremo for the festival.
That place has been the scene of gossip and the festival’s hottest stories, such as the love affair between Fiorello and Anna Falchi in 1995.
5. Corso Imperatrice
It owes its name to a VIP from the past, Maria Alessandrovna, Empress of Russia, who stayed in Sanremo in 1874, perhaps attracted by the beautiful Spring statue. In fact, air from the East is dense in that part of San Remo, as just a stone’s throw away is the beautiful Cathedral of St Basil of Moscow in pure Orthodox style. It is said that writers such as Tolstoy and musicians such as Tchaikovsky also came to the Riviera to follow the empress.
More recently, during festivals, the proximity of the Hotel de Paris or the Royal has brought singers like Gianni Morandi or comedians like Luca and Paolo. A long time ago, Eva Robins used to skate along it very fast on roller skates..
6. The cycle path
Singers and VIPs often seek a moment of relaxation on Sanremo’s cycle path, a true blue lung right in front of the sea. You can find them cycling or jogging: you just have to pay attention to the disguises they wear to escape the crowd.
