Our Italian travel takes us to Naples now, 2 hours and a half south of Rome, and to the beautiful Campania region. "Neapolis Festival" has been for many years the main music event of the Neapolitan summer. This year 2011 it will take place on the 8th and 9th of July: the first day will see on stage Skunk Anansie, Marlene Kuntz (one of the best alternative rock bands in Italy) and Mogway; the second day Underwold, Hercules And Love Affair, Crocodiles among the others. There will also be a big and unique event on 24 June in Cava de' Tirreni, south of Naples and not very far from Sorrento and Costiera Amalfitana. At the local football stadium the great Eric Clapton will "cross" his magic guitar with that of local bluesman Pino Daniele, for a concert which promises to be the most worthwhile of this south Italian summer.

If we want to drive from Naples to Apulia region, on the opposite side of southern Italy, we could easly take the motorway and reach its capital, Bari, but since we are on holiday what if we take a little turn north-west and head towards Campobasso, in Molise region? If you are a "heavy metal thrashing mad" you'll surely want to do that!!! In San Giacomo degli Schiavoni, next to Campobasso "Armageddon In The Park – Metal Fest" takes place every year in July; the bill is still to be confirmed for the day of 30 July 2011, but we already know the headliner: the terrific death metal Polish heroes, Vader.

Time to reach Apulia region now, one of the widest in Italy and the high heel on the Italian "boot". From north to south we could attend following music events and festivals this summer 2011.
In Barletta on 19 June, "A.Live Rock Festival", with the best Italian metal bands + some international guests (Hungarian Ektomorf confirmed at the moment).
In Giovinazzo, next to Bari, at the end of July, the "Giovinazzo Rock Festival", which will have one of its main events on 30 July with Belgian indie experimental rock band dEUS.
In Bari, at the Target Club, on 11 July 2011, the "Welcome To The Pit Open Air" will see the triumph of death metal genre: Deicide, Belphegor, Hour Of Penance.
In Lecce, in the middle of July, "Italia Wave Love Festival" with a great music offer: Sud Sound System, Jimmy Cliff (14 July), Kaiser Chief, Paolo Nutini (15 July), Lou Reed, Verdena (16 July), Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Calibro 35, Daniele Silvestri, Cristina Donà (17 July).
And don't forget to be at "La Notte della Taranta 2011", ethnical-traditional summer Salento festival with almost everything imaginable happening there.

Going south, towards Sicily, we ecounter two beautiful and less internationally known regions: Basilicata and Calabria, their territory made of mountains (the Appenines end in Calabria), inviolate woods and lakes, enchanting jewels like Matera (chosen by Mel Gibson for his "The Passion Of Christ"), the beautiful Ionio and Tirreno seas, and their history (the Riace Bronzes are one of the most famous symbols of Calabria region).
In Chiaromonte, Potenza province, Basilicata, "Agglutination metal festival" takes place every year in the middle of August. The bill for 2011 is not confirmed yet, in the past editions we had some of the best heavy metal like UDO, Dismember, Mayhem, Gamma Ray, Vader, Vison Divine.
In Calabria one of the main events for this summer 2011 will surely be on the 28 July at Stadio San Vito in Cosenza, where Zucchero will bring his brand new "Chocabeck World Tour".

Arriving in Sicily, the last stop in our journey through Italy, is always a great experience, whether travelling on boat from Calabria or flying to Palermo or Catania. Taormina is surely one of the most renowned Italian places, it's impossible not to fall in love with it, although every place in Sicily has something particular and worth to see. And it is in Taormina itself that we'll find the main music events of this Mediterranean island for summer 2011.
In the Teatro Antico, with a breathtaking view on Taormina and the Ionio sea and mount Etna, every summer the local cultural institution "Taormina Arte" proposes a great program made of modern music, opera, lirica, theatre, readings, shows. As concerns rock music, this summer 2011 will see following artists on the Teatro Antico stage: Lou Reed (18 July), Zucchero (19 July), Carlos santana for his "Guitar heaven tour 2011" (22 July), Joe Cocker (26 July), more events will surely be confirmed soon.
Finally in Palermo, Zucchero will have his date on 21 July and Sting will bring there his "Symphonicity Tour" on 27 July.

South Italy is beautiful and magic, with your favourite music it's even better!!!