Sanremo 2027: Official Dates and Stefano De Martino's Debut

Il 2027 Festival of Sanremo will be held from Tuesday 16 to Saturday 20 February 2027, returning to the mid-month slot after the 2026 edition was moved further ahead due to the coincidence with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The announcement came from Stephen DeMartino, new host and artistic director, through a post published on Instagram.

For viewers, the news is easy to mark on their calendars, but for Rai, it carries much more strategic weight, as the Festival returns to a time period to which television audiences have become accustomed in recent years. After a less-watched 2026 edition than previous ones, at least according to industry insiders, the mid-February return seems like a far from insignificant decision.

The official dates of Sanremo 2027

Sanremo 2027 will air from February 16th to 20th, with the traditional five-evening structure, from Tuesday to Saturday. The announcement of the dates came directly from Stephen DeMartino, which announced the date of the next Festival through its social media channels, effectively opening the first real public phase of the new edition.

The departure date, Tuesday 16 February 2027, marks the return of the Festival in the central part of the month, while the final is scheduled for Saturday February 20 2027For spectators, this means being able to start organizing the usual Sanremo schedule, consisting of long evenings, live commentary, report cards, provisional rankings, and the inevitable discussions about whether "someone else should have won," a national ritual that outlives any artistic direction.

The most concrete fact, however, concerns the television slot, as Sanremo returns to a more familiar slot after being moved to 2026. The choice of dates isn't just an organizational detail, but a signal of how RAI intends to reposition the Festival within the Italian entertainment calendar, avoiding significant overlap and bringing the event back to a more historically recognizable period for audiences.

Stefano De Martino makes his debut as host and artistic director

Stephen DeMartino will be the central face of the 2027 Festival of Sanremo, in the dual role of host and artistic director. At 36, the former dancer and television host arrives at the Ariston after a journey that took him from Friends to television hosting, until becoming one of the strongest names of the new Rai era.

His appointment had already been announced during the last edition of the Festival, a handover that attracted considerable attention precisely because it arrived so early. The decision to announce the dates now reinforces the idea that Sanremo has been built over a long period of time, at least in terms of public narrative, because the Festival machine certainly doesn't kick off in February, even if some audiences romantically pretend otherwise.

De Martino's debut will be closely watched, because hosting Sanremo isn't just about hosting any other program; it means managing a week in which television, music, social media, the press, and controversy become a single, rather unmanageable entity. His task will therefore be twofold, as he will have to balance television rhythm, artistic choices, stage management, and public perception, without turning this novelty into a mere image-building stunt.

The return in mid-February after the postponed edition

Il 2027 Festival of Sanremo will return in mid-February after the 2026 edition, which had been placed at the end of the month due to the Milan Cortina Winter OlympicsThe move had changed a recent tradition, impacting the television schedule and the audience's perception of the event, at least according to some of the readings circulating after the Festival closed.

The 2026 edition has been cited as the least-watched in recent years, and several industry insiders have linked this result to the postponement. This doesn't mean a single date can explain the ratings, as that would be too convenient and even a bit lazy, but in the case of Sanremo, the calendar plays a significant role, as the Festival thrives on habit, anticipation, and television rituals.

Moving the festival back to February 16th and 20th means placing the event within a more familiar context, preventing audiences from perceiving it as an out-of-touch event. In a television program so steeped in tradition, even a few days can change the overall effect, because Sanremo isn't just a program, but a week that fills conversations, schedules, newspapers, and social media with a power few Italian events can match.