Notte della Taranta
Night of Tarantula (La Notte della Taranta) is a music festival from Salento, Apulia, (Italy).
The Night of Tarantula is focused on Pizzica, a popular folk genre in Apulia, and takes place in various municipalities in the province of Lecce and the Grecìa Salentina, especially in Melpignano. It gives great importance to the folk music tradition of 'Taranta' and 'Pizzica', and it's a great resource for tourism in Apulia.
The Festival tours around Salento, normally culminating in a gran finale concert in Melpignano in August, which lasts until late at night. It has been attended by an average of 120'000 spectators. This music festival, started in 1998, an initiative of several municipalities of the Salento, which sponsored this event. Every year it appoints a new musical director.
Musical Directors
- 1998 - Daniele Sepe
- 1999 - Piero Milesi
- 2000 - Joe Zawinul
- 2001 - Piero Milesi
- 2002 - Vittorio Cosma
- 2003 - Stewart Copeland
- 2004 - Ambrogio Sparagna
- 2005 - Ambrogio Sparagna
- 2006 - Ambrogio Sparagna
- 2007 - Mauro Pagani
- 2008 - Mauro Pagani
- 2009 - Mauro Pagani
- 2010 - Ludovico Einaudi
- 2011 - Ludovico Einaudi
- 2012 - Goran Bregović
- 2013 - Giovanni Sollima
- 2014 - Giovanni Sollima
- 2015 - Phil Manzanera