Cervo Festival

The history of the festival

According to the festival’s website, it all starts at Easter 1962. Sándor Végh (1912–1997), a Hungarian-born violinist and conductor, is in Italy with his family and agrees to replace a friend at a Good Friday charity concert in Cervo, raising money to restore the church. He is taken with the village, has a house bought opposite the church and, about a year later, presents a festival project to the town council.

The first edition took place in 1964 and was originally called “Serate musicali”. Among his reasons for choosing Cervo, Végh pointed to the acoustics of the little square, enclosed by houses and overlooked by the church. In the 1970s artists such as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Yehudi Menuhin played here; from the 1990s the programme opened up to jazz. Today the festival is run by the Comune di Cervo.

The 2026 edition at a glance

The 63rd programme was the first built around a single theme, dialogue. It was put together by Michel Balatti, who took over as artistic director for the first time in 2026. There were two strands: “L’arte del dialogo” (11 concerts) and “Risonanze – Végh e il violino del nostro tempo” (4 concerts), plus the Giornate Géza Anda, a piano retrospective with two recitals (Filippo Gamba and Dmitry Yudin).

• 10 July: jazz opening with Paolo Fresu (trumpet) and Pierpaolo Vacca (button accordion and electronics)
• 24 July: Paolo Jannacci, with his trio, in “Jannacci arrenditi! La città ascolta”
• 31 July: cellist Giovanni Sollima with pianist Carlotta Maestrini
• 4 August: Fabrizio Bosso (trumpet) and Bebo Ferra (guitar)
• 13 August: Aldo Cazzullo tells the story of Francis of Assisi, with the Ring Around Quartet
• 28 August: last date in the calendar

The festival works with competitions such as the Premio Paganini and the Concours Géza Anda in Zurich, and with local organisations such as the Giovine Orchestra Genovese and the Levanto Music Festival.

The concert venues

Tickets and times: what to know

Prices depend on the evening. For the two square concerts whose pages we checked in 2026, 10 July cost €40 for an armchair and €25 for the steps; 31 July €30 and €20. Reduced steps tickets (under 19 and students up to 26) cost €15 and €10; children up to 10 and people with disabilities were free. Both concerts started at 9:30 pm.

• Online: from the box office on the official website.
• On the evening: box office at the Oratorio di Santa Caterina from 7:30 pm; the discounted steps seats for students and young people are sold only there, on the night.
• Pre-sale: at the Cervo tourist office and in Diano Marina, San Bartolomeo and Imperia; agencies add a 10% fee and take credit cards only.
• 2026 discounts: €5 off for FAI members on square concerts (except 10 July and 13 August); 50% for residents, with ID, except the same two dates.

Getting there and parking

For the 2026 concerts the festival pointed to the free car park in via Steria, with plenty of spaces and signposted; from there it is about a 15-minute walk to the square and the oratorio. A shuttle ran between Piazza Castello and Piazza dei Corallini from 7:30 pm to 12:30 am. For a future edition check again: the festival page links to a 2024 bus page.

By train, the Cervo–San Bartolomeo station has been closed since 2016: the nearest is Diano, at Diano Castello; another is Andora. For the last stretch you need a bus or taxi, whose timetables we have not confirmed. To stay, look in the village itself or in Diano Marina, Diano Castello, San Bartolomeo al Mare and Andora; on the nights of the big names, book early. For the rest of the village, read the guide to Cervo.