Over the weekend, famed music producer Rick Rubin put on a “secret” music festival in Tuscany, Italy featuring performances from the likes of James Blake, Gossip, and Arcade Fire’s Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. The event, named Festival of the Sun, was an intimate and exclusive affair with only 150 invitations sent out, taking place from June 21-22. The majority of the festival took place at the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta church, where most of its performances were held, however, access to the town’s main stage was open to the public free of charge.
Also featured at the event was a special screening of Andrew Dominik’s 2022 Nick Cave documentary This Much I Know to Be True. Famous guests included Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey – who hosted a talk titled Tech and Freedom – along with Måneskin’s Thomas Raggi and Ethan Torchio, Italian rapper Ghali, and Italian actors Riccardo Scamarcio and Benedetta Porcaroli.
According to Variety, Festival of the Sun was described via a poster as “a celebration of the summer solstice” and it’s currently unknown whether Rubin has planned another edition for 2025 or if he hopes to expand the festival in the future. Earlier this year, Perry Farrell revealed that Rubin wanted to buy Lollapalooza following the cancelled 2004 revival. “I was hurting for money. I don’t know why, but Rick Rubin decided to make an offer to me to buy the name for like a million dollars. I won’t tell you exactly how I put it, but I said no.”
Rubin is known for his work producing albums for artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, and Adele. He has previously produced music festivals such as All Points West and Bonnaroo. The Festival of the Sun in Tuscany served as one of Rubin’s more low-key, exclusive events, blending music with Italian culture and picturesque landscapes
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