The Sanremo Music Festival – or 'Festival di Sanremo' – is back for its 75th edition, with a new group of talented Italian musicians trying to win the prestige competition, and the chance to represent Italy at Eurovision.
Here's how you can watch Sanremo Music Festival online from anywhere with a VPN – and potentially for free.
The 2025 Sanremo Music Festival started on Tuesday, February 11 and and runs until Saturday, February 15, the day of the final, and airs on Rai in Italy.
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Though an all-Italian affair, the Sanremo Music Festival has become a worldwide spectacle, with music fans – particularly Eurovision fans – tuning in to see all the original songs, special guests and iconic covers. It's important for Eurofans because the winner will be given first right of refusal for Italy's spot at Eurovision in May.
Last year's Eurovision entry Angelina Mango, as well as Mahmood, and Måneskin who won Eurovision in 2021, went to the competition as winners of Sanremo, though some winners do say no.
The competition is about who has the best new song, and the contestants are made up of both established and smaller or newer artists. There's also a Newcomers' section, which highlight young, up-and-coming acts. Voting is split between a televote and two juries – one made up of the press and TV, and one made up of the radio industry.
This year, there are a few subtle tweaks to the format, plus a new host as Amadeus says goodbye and the show welcomes Carlo Conti back as host and artistic director. He'll be joined by special co-hosts each night, including Mahmood and Alessandro Cattelan. Of course, there will be special guests and performers each night too – find a list of confirmed guests down below.
Who will win out of the 29 artists who made it to Sanremo 2025? Tune in all week to find out – our guide explains how to watch Sanremo Music Festival 2025 online for FREE and from anywhere with a VPN.
How to watch Sanremo Music Festival for free online
The whole Sanremo Music Festival 2025 will stream for free on Rai and RaiPlay in Italy. The Rai channel is free-to-air, and RaiPlay is totally free to watch online – you don't even need to sign in.
You can also watch the press conferences, interviews, and pre- and post-shows PrimaFestival and DopoFestival on RaiPlay. All the shows are also available to stream in full on-demand afterwards.
Performances will also be on the Rai YouTube channel after the event, but they are usually taken down within a few weeks.
Struggling to connect to RaiPlay? If you're traveling outside of Italy, a VPN like ordVPN can help you to access all your streaming services as if you were at home. More details below...
Watch Sanremo Music Festival from anywhere
Away from home at the moment and blocked from watching the Sanremo Music Festival on your usual stream?
You can still watch Sanremo Music Festival online thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The software allows your devices to appear to be back in your home country regardless of where you are in the world, meaning you can still use all your usual services. Our favourite is NordVPN. It's the best VPN on the market.
Using a VPN is incredibly simple.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're in the U.K. and want to view an Italian service, you'd select Italy from the list.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Fire up RaiPlay or your website of choice and stream the show easily.
How to watch Sanremo Music Festival around the world
Though it's become popular around the world, there are no official streams for the Sanremo Music Festival outside of Italy – no broadcasters have picked it up in the U.S., U.K., Australia or Canada.
However, as we said above, the RaiPlay stream should be available internationally, so you can tune in to the Italian stream from anywhere! Naturally, all the coverage is in Italian.
Connect to RaiPlay from anywhere: If you do run into geoblocking issues when traveling outside of Italy, a good VPN can unblock the fee RaiPlay stream. NordVPN works a treat for this – we use it all the time for streaming.
Sanremo Music Festival 2025 contestants
Big Artists section
Achille Lauro – "Incoscienti giovani"
Bresh – "La tana del granchio"
Brunori Sas – "L'albero delle noci"
Clara – "Febbre"
Coma_Close – "Cuoricini"
Elodie – "Dimenticarsi alle 7"
Fedez – "Battito"
Francesca Michielin – "Fango in paradiso"
Francesco Gabbani – "Viva la vita"
Gaia – "Chiamo io chiami tu"
Giorgia – "La cura per me"
Irama – "Lentamente"
Joan Thiele – "Eco"
The Kolors – "Tu con chi fai l'amore"
Lucio Corsi – "Volevo essere un duro"
Marcella Bella – "Pella diamante"
Massimo Ranieri – "Tra le mani un cuore"
Modà – "Non ti dimentico"
Noemi – "Se t'innamori muori"
Olly – "Balorda nostalgia"
Rkomi – "Il ritmo delle cose"
Rocco Hunt – "Mille vote ancora"
Rose Villain – "Fuorilegge"
Sarah Toscano – "Amarcord"
Serena Brancale – "Anema e core"
Shablo (ft. Guè, Joshua and Tormento) – "La mia parola"
Simone Cristicchi – "Quando sarai piccola"
Tony Effe – Damme 'na mano"
Willie Peyote – "Grazie ma no grazie"
Newcomers' section
Alex Wyse – "Rockstar"
Maria Tomba – "Goodbye (Voglio good vibes)"
Settembre – "Vertebre"
Vale LP and Lil Jolie – "Dimmi tu quando sei pronto per fare l'amore"
Sanremo Music Festival 2025 schedule and format
Coverage starts at 7.35 p.m. GMT / 2.35 p.m. ET each day
First night – Tuesday, February 11
All 29 artists perform for the first time, and receive votes from the press and radio juries to determine the provisional top 5.
Top 5: Simone Cristicchi, Achille Lauro, Giorgia, Brunori Sas and Lucio Corsi
Second night – Wednesday, February 12
Newcomers' semi-final.
Half the artists perform for a second time, and receive votes from the public, press jury and radio jury.
A new provisional top 5 is announced.
Third night – Thursday, February 13
The other half of the artists perform for a second time, and receive votes from the public, press jury and radio jury.
A new provisional top 5 is announced.
Fourth night – Friday, February 14
All 29 artists perform covers of iconic songs, and may welcome a special guest to perform with them. Performances receive votes from the public and press and radio juries.
The winning cover is announced, though this won't count towards the final scores.
Newcomers' final.
Final – Saturday, February 15
All 29 artists perform their songs for the third and final time.
The public, press and radio juries vote again, and the top 5 artists perform again in the 'superfinal'.
The public, press and radio vote on the final 5, and this, combined with the previous ranking, will determine the winner.
Sanremo Music Festival 2025 special guests
First night
Jovanotti, Raf and Noa & Mira Awad
Second night
Damiano David, BigMama, the cast of Follemente, the cast of Belcanto and the cast of Champagne
Third night
Ermal Meta, Duran Duran and Dario D'Ambrosi
Fourth night
Iva Zanicchi, Benji & Fede, the cast of Mare fuori, Paolo Kessisoglu & Lunita Kessisoglu and Edoardo Bove
Final
Planet Funk, Tedua, Antonello Venditti and Vanessa Scalera
When is the Sanremo Music Festival final?
The Sanremo Music Festival 2025 final will take place on Saturday, February 15 with the show starting at 7.35 p.m. GMT / 2.35 p.m. ET.
The winner will be decided by a combination of public and jury votes, and they will be offered the chance to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest, taking place in May.
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