Lenny Kravitz, Moby and James Taylor are among the artists that will take part in the festival’s twelfth edition.
Music and medieval architecture make for a magic combination and nowhere more so than in Lucca, Tuscany. On balmy July evenings, the city’s thick walls and ancient palazzos are the backdrop for some of the world’s best artists during the Lucca Summer Festival.
Launched in 1998, the event has already drawn international musicians of the calibre of Bob Dylan, Elton John, Joan Baez, but also the Buena Vista Social Club, Youssou N’Dour and, from Italy, Pino Daniele, Zucchero and Fiorella Mannoia.
This year’s edition, the twelfth in the festival’s history, also looks poised to make waves. Among the artists that have already signed up for the event are rocker Lenny Kravitz, ‘sprock’ singer Anastacia, electronic musician Moby, songwriter and singer Burt Bacharach and country pop supremo James Taylor. They will perform open-air in Lucca’s huge, leafy Piazza Napoleone, once the heart of Lucca’s political power and now one of its cultural engines, between July 8 and 25. More artists are likely to join this distinguished list in the coming weeks.
Traditionally, a couple of the festival’s smaller musical events are free of charge. Tickets for the other concerts, including those by Kravitz, Anastacia, Moby, Burt Bacharach and James Taylor, are available for sale through the .