“Vinitaly the Opera’s Ouverture”: a travel among wine and opera with a view over Arena di Verona

Gustatory and aromatic symphonies of wine in the glass blend with those of music and voice, in a city that stands as a global capital of both opera and wine, Verona. For a new sensory and cultural experience, a journey through art and flavor, a celebration of made in Italy. “Vinitaly, the Opera’s Ouverture” gets to the heart, a joint project by Fondazione Arena di Verona and Veronafiere, with Vinitaly, enriching the Arena Opera Festival Experience, managed by Infront Italy. The 2025 innovation of Verona’s pre-opera experience, explains a note, “includes tastings of the finest national wine labels, paired with top-quality food products, followed by an evening at the opera in the world-renowned open-air theater: the Arena. A new package designed for locals, tourists, and business clients seeking a 360-degree experience”. Just few steps from the Arena, inside the 17th-century Palazzo della Gran Guardia, an exclusive experience has occured in recent weeks. For even 38 evenings (from yesterday to August 31st), Italian wineis protagonist of a pre-opera tasting journey.
“With Vinitaly, the Opera’s Ouverture, we are valorizing an integrated model of promotion that strengthens the bond between culture, territory, and businesses - declares Adolfo Rebughini, dg Veronafiere - the synergy with Fondazione Arena and Infront Italy allows us to create an exclusive experience, where the finest labels selected by Vinitaly introduce international audiences to another great show, that of the opera at the Arena. It’s a formula which connects excellence, generates relationships, and reinforces Vinitaly’s position as a global platform for promoting Italian wine in the world.”
Last night, the 2025 debut was attended by Cecilia Gasdia, superintendent of Fondazione Arena, along with Stefano Trespidi, Artistic viceirector, and Andrea Compagnucci, marketing principal consultant, Barbara Ferro, Ceo of Veronafiere, dg Adolfo Rebughini, Margherita Maimeri, event manager at Vinitaly, Alessandro Giacomini, managing director of Infront Italy, and Alessia Rotta, Verona’s City councillor for events. Practically, from Thursday to Sunday, and, during some gala evenings, the exclusive buvette overlooking Piazza Bra hosts a curated selection of local wineries, led by sponsor Sartori di Verona, the official supplier of the opera festival. But not only, because a dedicated area features top labels selected by Vinitaly changing from evening to evening to offer an always new experience within Italian wine excellence. Accompanying the wines, there is a buffet dinner, dishes paired with the wines on offer, a homage to Italian cuisine, itself a candidate for Unesco World Heritage Site. Each evening begins at 7:00 pm and continues until the start of the performance.
“To live Verona and the Arena is to experience Italian identity  - affirms Cecilia Gasdia -  nothing embodies our tradition and popular history more than opera and wine. I thank Veronafiere for initiating this collaboration, which I’m sure will continue to grow. And, Infront for managing all the activities which allow mainly foreign audiences and businesses to enjoy a complete experience. During the summer, the Arena hosts international opera stars, but it also offers backstage tours, gourmet dinners inside the monument, and guided tastings. It’s a jewel we want to enhance more and more”.
““Vinitaly, the Opera’s Ouverture” is “the synthesis of two of Verona’s defining traits: wine and opera - comments Veronafiere Ceo Barbara Ferro -  Veronafiere and Fondazione Arena, the city’s main ambassadors in the world, are joining forces in a project that celebrates local excellence valorizing two symbols of Verona and made in Italy. It’s a formula designed to offer audiences a unique experience that blends the culture of opera, Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage with the culture of wine, represented by Vinitaly”.
“You’ve achieved something that may seem obvious, but often isn’t: bringing together local excellence to create something new - affirms Alessia Rotta, City Councillor for Events of the Municipality of Verona -  the city administration fully supports this initiative. Gran Guardia, a palace dedicated to hospitality, is the ideal venue for such events. Our goal is to improve these spaces as much as possible, and the upcoming Olympics could be a valuable opportunity to do so.”
“The combination of culture, local excellence, international expertise, and food and wine represents the essence of a project that Infront strongly wanted to expand its corporate hospitality offering  - concludes Alessandro Giacomini, Managing Director of Infront Italy -  thanks to Fondazione Arena di Verona and Vinitaly, we’ve created an exclusive hospitality model that unites the best of made in Italy. I’m convinced that this project will significantly broaden the opera’s audience and become a sought-after experience for our partners and clients to offer their stakeholders for networking and relationship-building”.
“The economic impact generated by the Arena di Verona and Vinitaly brands is already immense. Pursuing synergistic actions means enhancing both their local value and international image - declares Stefano Trespidi, Artistic vicedirector of Fondazione Arena -  for the first time, Fondazione Arena and Veronafiere are creating a new, highly appealing product that enriches the city’s tourism offer. We’re laying the foundation for a fruitful and longlasting collaboration between two of Verona’s key stakeholders.”
“The Arena di Verona is, in every sense, the most Italian place on Earth: a Roman amphitheater that transforms each summer into the world’s temple of opera  - explains Andrea Compagnucci, Marketing Principal Consultant at Fondazione Arena -  but, there is no Italy without opera, no opera without culture, and no Italian culture without wine. Vinitaly and the Arena share the same mission: to be ambassadors of Italian identity. This is even more important considering that 60% of the Arena’s audience is international. When we envisioned Vinitaly, the Opera’s Ouverture, we wanted to celebrate the synergy between the economic and cultural value of opera and wine, both deeply rooted in this territory by creating an immersive experience that welcomes audiences from the very first glass. It’s a story that begins with taste and culminates in the grand beauty of the Arena”.