RAI has officially published the full regulations for the 76th Festival di Sanremo, confirming the structure, voting system, and participation rules for next year’s event. The publication of the rulebook comes just days after the City of Sanremo and RAI signed their new multi-year agreement, securing the Festival’s organisation and broadcast through 2028.
26 big artists and four Nuove Proposte
The 2026 edition will feature 26 big artists selected by artistic director Carlo Conti. Alongside them, four Nuove Proposte (two from Sanremo Giovani 2025 and two from Area Sanremo 2025) will participate in a separate competition during the second and third nights.
The artist line-up will be announced live on TG1 on December 7, following the festival’s long-standing tradition.
A familiar five-night structure
The Festival maintains its five-night format: On the first night, all 26 big artists perform their entries.
On the second, half of them return to the stage, while the Nuove Proposte acts face off in two duels.
The third night features the remaining 13 Campioni and the Nuove Proposte final, where a winner is crowned.
The fourth night is the Cover Night, during which each artist performs a well-known Italian or international song released before 31 December 2025, joined by a guest performer.
Finally, the fifth and final night is the Grand Final, where all competing artists perform again and the overall winner is announced.
This year’s Festival will be held later than usual, running from 24 to 28 February 2026, as RAI adjusted the calendar to avoid overlapping with the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics taking place earlier that month.
Voting system and super-final
Three juries will vote throughout the week: the press, TV and web jury; the radio jury; and the public televote.
- Night 1: Press/TV/Web jury only.
- Nights 2 and 3: Radio (50%) and Televote (50%).
- Cover Night: Televote (34%) + Press (33%) + Radio (33%)
- Final Night: Televote (34%) + Press (33%) + Radio (33%).
The final outcome will combine results from Night 1, Nights 2 and 3 (aggregated), and the Final Night. At the end of the Grand Final, the top five artists will advance to a super-final round, where the same three juries will vote again to decide the winner of Sanremo 2026.
The Cover Night, as in 2025, will not influence the final results.
Songs and eligibility
All entries must be performed primarily in Italian, though brief dialect or foreign phrases are allowed if they do not alter the song’s overall Italian character.
Songs may last up to 3 minutes 30 seconds (3 minutes for the Nuove Proposte).
Submissions for consideration close on 17 November 2025, with the final selection made at Conti’s discretion together with RAI.
From Sanremo to Vienna
As stated in the regulations, the winner of Sanremo 2026 will have the right to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna.
If the winner declines or cannot participate, the second-placed artist will be offered the opportunity, as occurred last year, when Lucio Corsi took Italy’s spot after winner Olly declined.
Italy’s Eurovision journey
Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since the very beginning and have always been considered a powerhouse in the contest. The country has won the contest on three occasions in 1964, 1990 and 2021. Italy withdrew after 1997, returning again in 2011 with Raphael Gualazzi who sang ‘Madness Of Love’. Raphael placed second in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest after scoring 189 points.
Italy’s most recent entry in 2025 was “Volevo essere un duro” by Lucio Corsi. At the close of voting, Italy scored a total of 256 points in the Eurovision 2025 Grand Final, placing 5th. Of these, 159 points came from the juries, whilst the remaining 97 points came from the televote.
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News Source: RAI
Photo Credit: RAI
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