Bologna
Italy
UNESCO City of Music
since 2006
Bologna is home to the oldest University of the Western world, funded in 1088 and now hosting 84.000 students. The city can boast a vibrant cultural life and an emerging creative economy.
It offers a rich and varied cultural scene: in continuity with its glorious past, in Bologna music acquires an extraordinary relevance thanks to the presence of leading institutions.
The city stands out for its widespread creative fabric dedicated to musical fruition and production, structured in a series of International Festivals of great relevance, promoting a continuous cultural consumption. The remarkable classical music seasons, the contemporary music program, jazz music played in various places, children-targeted initiatives, the presence of song-writers and rock-bands and so much more, they all contribute to make a unique music scene.
Bologna has identified cultural and creative industries as one of the strategic axes for its local development plan.
As a City of Music, Bologna will continue to develop specific actions connected to the support for internationalization of music projects that wish to go international. A strategic tool for positioning a creative Bologna in a worldwide context is an annual public, which enables musicians and other workers in the sector to perform on an international stage and also welcomes artists from other UNESCO Creative Cities of Music to Bologna. Support to the music industry is further manifested in a constant activity of international relations, communication and promotion.
Moreover, new calls in collaboration with the project Incredibol! Creative Innovation of Bologna with a specific theme will be launched open to creative cities in each sector, for the participation in important cultural events in the city.