The Festival del Sole is born in 1989. It’s the first of its kind in Italy and in Riccione: never before anyone has organized an international non-agonistic gymnastics exhibition. Right from the First edition the Festival is a great success, attracting 58 groups from 11 different European nations.

The following editions see the Festival grow more and more: starting from 1992 the athletes can perform on the “Arenas”, real open-air stages set in front of the sea, the groups are now 76 making a total of 1,850 participating athletes! The popularity of the Festival continues to rise: in the 1996 edition even 11 groups from Brazil join the event.

Bearing in mind this huge success, starting from 1998 the Festival del Sole is held every two years, while the number of athletes continues to rise. The fourth and fifth edition hosts groups coming from Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Czech Republic, Republic of San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Hungary for a total of 1,900 members.

During the following editions the Festival del Sole reaches great importance, with a peak in the ninth edition of 2008: Riccione is literally invaded by more than 3,400 athletes from 19 different countries who perform in front of an audience of 50,000 people!

In 2010 Festival del Sole celebrates its tenth edition. It is a very special edition, which culminates with the great closing Gala in conjunction with Riccione’s Notte Rosa.

The 11th edition will take place on 1-6 july, 2012. We look forward to welcome you here in Riccione!