No Fixed Abode Wave

Arguably Europe’s most-traveled festival still hasn’t found a site for this year’s gathering, although organisers are still hopeful of it happening June 26-28.

Arezzo Wave, which took its name from the Tuscan city where it started and switched to Italia Wave as it traveled Italy, won’t be back in its birthplace in 2013.

It had spent the first 21 years of its life in Arezzo, but left in 2007 because the Tuscan regional administration had to cut back on all arts funding.

At the same time the local municipality of Arezzo, another of the festival’s backers, was hovering on the brink of bankruptcy and had been forced to cut back on funding of any sort.

So began a journey that took the festival to Florence, where it changed name to Italia Wave and stayed for two years, before moving on to Livorno.

In 2011 it was on the move again, heading south to Lecce in Puglia, which is on the heel of the Italian peninsula. It’s often referred to as the Florence of the south because it has similar baroque architecture.

Last year it was back In Arezzo with its original name restored, but festival spokeswoman Silvia Poledrini told Pollstar that it won’t be held there in 2013.

“We won’t repeat it there. There’s no will for the city to host the festival again,” she explained, suggesting that either local politics or lack of civic financial support will see the nomadic festival  leave home once again. “We are working on the next edition, though, but I am not certain when we will have news.”