There is a festival in Versilia that for five years has been trying to distance itself from all the others on the Italian scene and aims at the world. To do this it doesn't chase artists in the charts, it's not “a mixed fry”, nor yet another event where music is an excuse for something else. The First Summer returns in June for the fifth year to Lido di Camaiore at Parco BussolaDomani with a line-up that brings together Jack White, Nick Cave, Gorillaz, Richard Ashcroft and Marlene Kuntz, confirming a precise direction: «Even before asking ourselves whether an artist will bring people or not, we ask ourselves how he can fit into our festival»explain Enrico D'Alessandro and Andrea Galli, responsible for the La Prima Estate project (and sons of the founders Mimmo D'Alessandro and Adolfo Galli).
The two weekends (from 19th to 21st and from 26th to 28th June) are built as coherent itineraries rather than simple programmes, with concerts starting in the late afternoon (from 6.30pm) and a format designed to be experienced without haste, between the sea and the park. «We don't just focus on fun, but on an ultra-relaxing situation», underlines D'Alessandro. Around music, talks, tastings and activities that broaden the musical experience, but without distorting it: «The line-up is the most important aspect, but you have to have something else», adds Galli.
In the meantime, the numbers also prove him right: around 4 million euros of related activities for the territory and an increasingly international audience (constantly growing). The difference compared to other festivals? The approach seems to be: identity first of all, even at the cost of being particularly selective. And with a clear objective in mind, rather than growing at all costs: to build, year after year, a company you can trust. Even without knowing who will play beforehand.
Let's start from the claim that characterizes you: “More than a festival”. Today many offer, in addition to music, experiences, territories and lifestyles. Is it something essential?
Enrico D'Alessandro: For me yes. Now the festival is an experience and the location contributes at least 50%. Having such a particular venue, with a large green park just a few meters from the beach, we could only set it up this way. Even if we have a different message from other events where music meets the sea. We don't just focus on fun, but on ultra relaxation. Those who participate have the whole day to spend on the beach and then, in mid-afternoon, cross the street and come to listen to good music. This is also the reason that led us not to start the programming too early, compared to other festivals that start at lunchtime.
Andrea Galli: For those who don't want to stay on the sun lounger all day we have created collateral activities, starting from talks with Massimo Coppola, up to tastings or yoga. It's clear that the line-up is always the most important aspect, but yes: you need to have a lot more.
Enrico D'Alessandro and Andrea Galli. Photo: The First Summer
In recent years, La Prima Estate has also represented an economic driving force for Versilia, with significant related activities and strong public attraction. AND a music festival or even cultural politics?
D'Alessandro: It is certainly cultural policy, and it demonstrates that a good cultural policy has important economic implications. Here we think we have done a job that has brought benefits to the area over the years. We like to carefully calculate the economic impact of our events in the places where they take place, so much so that we always entrust a timely investigation to the University of Pisa, so we have a rather precise picture of the related activities which are around 4 million euros in two weekends, with an average expense of 400 euros per spectator. Which this year, by doubling the audience, we hope will double for the area. It is not just an economic fact, because these studies have told us that 29% of the public, therefore one in three, had never come to Versilia. So La Prima Estate repositions Versilia on the tourist map of an audience that had never visited it, in particular people aged 30 to 40.
Gauls: For too long the image of Versilia has been linked to the film Sea flavourso it was seen as a luxury destination. In the end it is much more, because it is a wonderful place that can attract a relaxing holiday and also at very affordable prices.
Your festival doesn't seem to chase names in the charts, but it has a precise line. Is it a cultural choice or also a strategy to stand out in a saturated market?
D'Alessandro: It is a precise strategy, as well as taking into account the cultural aspect. Unlike other festivals, we give a different value to the coherence of the proposal. Even before asking ourselves whether an artist will bring people or not, we ask ourselves how an artist can fit in at La Prima Estate. Every evening is a sort of mini festival inside a larger container. We have always believed in this and it guides us in choosing the artists who then participate every year.
Gauls: Exactly, because it is our philosophy to maintain an editorial line that seeks to combine quality, with the best names that the market can offer, and coherence with the style of the festival. If we take the first weekend of this year as an example, we can see from Jack White to Richard Ashcroft up to the all-Italian evening led by Marlene Kuntz. A choice by Enrico to maintain a common thread between Friday and Sunday.
Analyzing the line-up, some unique dates in Italy by these great artists also emerge. I imagine, however, that exclusivity is not easy to achieve in such a particular location.
Gauls: It is a very difficult battle that we find ourselves fighting because, naturally, Milan is a hub that attracts artists and is logistically easier to reach, or as a transit point to go elsewhere, rather than passing through Lido di Camaiore. However, this makes it clear that, although it is easier to go to Milan, the artists themselves embrace a project rather than a convenience. They believe in what we are doing. Twenty One Pilots is a band that was supposed to perform at another event in Italy and instead decided to come to La Prima Estate precisely because they liked the spirit of the festival.
D'Alessandro: After five years, we are increasingly reaping the fruits of having embraced a very specific philosophy. We were credible right from the start and this has a huge impact on the artists' vision.
Is there a successful negotiation that you are particularly proud of?
Gauls: I think Jack White might be the name we're most proud of, because we've been at it for three years. It was very complicated, because he is very detail oriented, so we are definitely happy that we were able to bring him to our festival.
D'Alessandro: We had wanted Jack White to participate in La Prima Estate for a long time, he seemed like the perfect artist for such a context, and also for his first ever solo appearance in Italy. We are thrilled to have succeeded. However, if we look back at the history of negotiations, Lana Del Rey's participation in 2023 was an operation built in just a few days and announced on Monday for Sunday. A big gamble, because the festival was still young, but in the end it went well. There was strong anticipation.
With the presence of international artists, how much is the participation of an international audience increasing at the same time?
D'Alessandro: To date we are selling one ticket in five in Tuscany, the rest outside the region, mainly in Italy, but with 11% of foreign audiences, a percentage that is growing every year. When we imagined La Prima Estate we saw it from the beginning as a festival that could attract foreign audiences. The artists line is certainly attractive for spectators from all over Europe, plus with such a particular location and well supplied by two airports such as those of Pisa and Florence.
Gauls: Just think of the evening of Sunday 21 June, with Richard Ashcroft, Libertines, Wombats and Ramona Flowers, which will be purely English, so we are sure that many English people will be interested in that day.
On the all-Italian day there will be Marlene Kuntz, Ministri, Casino Royale, Si! Boom! Voila!. Is it a stance towards alternative rock?
D'Alessandro: The Italian presence has always been important for us, but this year more by chance than by choice there were no Italians in the rest of the evenings. So, when we had to make a choice about that weekend, we liked to dedicate it to four Italian bands.
Gauls: We wanted to go and look for something that could best fit in with the other Friday and Sunday evenings, it's a decision that we really like, it's no coincidence that those bands were our first choices and therefore a circle was closed perfectly.
The First Summer 2025. Photo: Stefano Dalle Luche
Broadening the discussion, what is the state of health of live shows in Italy, in particular after the boom of the post-Covid period?
Gauls: I think we're back to pre-Covid stability right now, with perhaps slightly more events. The boom is no longer there, but the market still remains quite saturated. Now the phenomenon of residencies is also taking hold, where artists prefer to stay for several dates in a single location. It's difficult to go too far in interpreting what will happen in the future.
D'Alessandro: The long post-Covid wave has faded, so our task, like that of the entire sector, is to pay more attention to what is planned. The public's financial resources have obviously decreased and the best programs are rewarded.
Also because given the ongoing conflicts in the world, the expected fuel shortages do not bode well for those who have to travel in the summer. Are you worried?
Gauls: Planning is the most important aspect. Production is working very well, anticipating, also thanks to trusted suppliers. Perhaps the theme will concern the public and the transportation of the artists, but we will see what changes between now and June. However, we are increasingly noticing that many artists skip countries on their tours and try to amortise the costs by staying in the same location for several evenings.
D'Alessandro: It's difficult to know now what awaits us, because things change quickly. It is certainly a worrying situation, and apart from planning we can only hope that the situation does not have too much impact. Covid had already decimated a supply chain, then Brexit added, which didn't make it easier to host British artists, now the cost of fuel. We have to do a sort of obstacle course, but the problem is that the more difficult the general situation is, the more less well-known or emerging artists are penalized, who see their tours becoming anti-economic.
Can you define the characteristics of the First Summer audience?
Gauls: It is a transversal audience, especially if we think that over the years we have hosted artists such as Duran Duran, Jamiroquai, Metro Boomin or, as we said before, Lana Del Rey.
D'Alessandro: Perhaps this year, given the line-up, the audience is more definable. But ultimately it's an audience that certainly doesn't end up here by chance, we're definitely talking about music lovers. Personally, we cover a range from 25 to 50 years old, therefore very broad. What unites us is that it is a passionate, cultured audience that includes many families with children.
Having reached the halfway point of five years, if you were to imagine La Prima Estate in the next five years, how would you imagine it?
Gauls: I would add a B-stage, I'm trying to convince Enrico. And, of course, entering the map of the most important European festivals by attracting even more foreign audiences.
D'Alessandro: I would also like a B-stage, we will work on it. In general, I hope for a growth path to arrive, in another five years, at the point where the public reaches such a level of trust as to purchase the ticket sight unseen because they are sure they will find something interesting.
And what would you never want La Prima Estate to become?
D'Alessandro: A mixed fried dish.
Gauls: Exactly, we would never want it to become obvious, banal and without identity.
