Unrivalled worldwide: RCF Arena opens in Reggio Emilia

With the name of RCF Arena Reggio Emilia, the facility will be inaugurated on 12 September 2020 with a large concert by Luciano Ligabue, on the occasion of his thirty years in the music business. This is the most important news regarding the future arena, to be built in the area of the Campovolo arena in Reggio Emilia.

Presented today – Monday 11 November 2019 – during an event held at the Technopole in Reggio Emilia, RCF Arena will be the only facility in the world equipped to host up to 100,000 people, able to promote the area’s outstanding culture, tourism experiences and entertainment.

C.Volo: a network of businesses for strategic and operative management

The strategic and operative management of RCF Arena Reggio Emilia has been entrusted to the SPV C.Volo, formed by a network of 7 enterprises: Coopservice Soc.coop.p.A., Arena Campovolo S.r.l., Finregg S.p.a., Nial Nizzoli S.r.l., Rcf Group S.p.a., Smart Group S.c.a.r.l. and Taste S.r.l.

RCF – an international leader in the design, production and sale of professional audio and sound systems and products – has decided to acquire the naming rights, thus becoming the main sponsor of the Arena, as well as guaranteeing impeccable sound and cutting-edge systems.

Ligabue, 12 September: inauguration of an international programme

The construction work on RCF Arena Reggio Emilia – which began in 2018 – will continue until the definitive testing of the structure, before the inauguration and the opening to the public, set for 12 September 2020, with an event starring Luciano Ligabue.

There could be no better place than the Campovolo area, with its new RCF Arena Reggio Emilia, to celebrate his extraordinary thirty-year musical career: this is an area close to the local artist’s heart, a place he has performed several times in live events that have left their mark on the history of Italian music. And the next one, at RCF Arena, on 12 September 2020, promises to be more incredible than ever: a 30th anniversary celebration of Il Liga, set to go down in the annals of rock and to kick off a programme of events with an international dimension.

Important players for artists, ticketing and event organisation

The main strength of RCF Arena Reggio Emilia will be the management of major events featuring artists of international renown, entrusted to Arena Campovolo S.r.l., a partner of C.Volo and formed by Luciano Ligabue’s manager Claudio Maioli and Ferdinando Salzano, director of Friends&Partners S.p.A., the largest Italian company in the sector of live music, musical TV productions and major live events. In 2017, Friends&Partners was purchased by CTS EVENTIM Group, an international leader in online ticketing, musical events and entertainment, thus strengthening its presence on the Italian, European and international market.

Minor events and the related services in the Hospitality Area are managed by C.Volo, which for operative activities may also use the services of Smart Group S.c.a.r.l., composed of 10 companies specialised in marketing and communication, stand design and construction, event organisation and fundraising.

Organised, modular spaces nestling in the greenery

RCF Arena Reggio Emilia – designed by Pavarani Architetti, Studio di Architettura Guido Tassoni, Studio LSA · Lauro Sacchetti Associati – has been conceived to offer organised, modular spaces that can be adapted to different needs: the Green Arena for major international events, with a capacity of 100,000 and a 5% slope to guarantee the best possible views and acoustics, the Concerts Area for national events, and the Hospitality Area, where light, temporary structures can be positioned, making it easier not only to manage welcome services during major events, but also to set up minor events.

Nestling in an urban park just outside the city, RCF Arena Reggio Emilia is a highly sustainable project that aims to offer maximum safety and an emergency medical service, easy access and extremely comfortable services, located in a strategic position: in the heart of the Emilia-Romagna region and in the centre of a catchment area of seven and a half million residents living less than an hour away.

With the Music Valley, more opportunities for the Metropolitan Area

RCF Arena Reggio Emilia RCF Arena Reggio Emilia aims to make the most of the potential for growth in the live events sector to boost tourism in the region, through the national and international promotion of the Emilia-Romagna system, the Via Emilia experience and the region’s cultural heritage. Not only tourism, but also knowledge and work contribute to make the most of the region’s outstanding assets, the economic development of the metropolitan area, the establishment of new businesses and the growth of existing enterprises, especially in the advanced tertiary, hospitality and cultural industry sectors.

RCF Arena’s aim is to make Reggio Emilia the capital of live music, and to create a Music Valley of international scope – deservedly joining the system of valleys in the region dedicated to motor vehicles, food and wellness – able to welcome, thrill and amaze people from all over Europe.

A collective project, demonstrating exemplary collaboration between public and private partners

RCF Arena Reggio Emilia is the result of an exemplary collaboration between public and private partners that has allowed for a positive development project in the interests of both Reggio Emilia and the Emilia-Romagna Region. Aeroporto di Reggio Emilia S.p.A., the company that has been granted use of the whole airport area by the owner ENAC, has offered C.Volo the opportunity to manage the non-operative area of the grounds until 2035, following a public tender.

Both the company and its public owners were able to grasp the vision behind the idea presented by Coopservice, as a project financing proposal, and therefore set in motion the process to obtain EU funding. This collaboration on the part of the public partners allowed Reggio Emilia to obtain funding to be managed at regional level (ROP-ERDF – Axis 5 2014-2020 programme), which acted as a driver for setting up the complex pledge on the part of the private subjects. This collaboration also benefitted from the skills of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia regarding the management of public works, tenders and the management of EU funding.

RCF Arena Reggio Emilia is a practical example of how European funding can assist growth, opening up opportunities for further private contributions, as well as promoting collaboration – in full compliance with the regulations – between public entities and the private sector. The Arena is a collective effort that has been able to reconcile the time required for the public procedures with the times the private sector operates within, and is a positive, practical example of the shared commitment of institutions, companies, entities, professionals and supervisory bodies, ready to work together and ensure the complete, effective implementation of a project that has no equal in Italy or worldwide. The Arena is unique in terms of both how it came about and the process that has accompanied it.

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