The Festival Verdi will celebrate Verdi’s 207th birthday on Oct. 1o, with an honorary celebration and a Verdi gala in Busetto and Parma.

The long day will begin with a ceremony in Busseto and Parma where the Mayor of Busetto Giancarlo Contini will leave a floral arrangement at the Casa Natale a Roncole Verdi at 9. Students from the school will also perform a tribute to the composer and Club dei 27 porgerà will also pay tribute to the composer with 27 red roses.

In Parma at 11:30 at the Piazza della Pace next to the Monumento a Verdi, various institutions and associations including the city’s mayor and Anna Maria Meo, General Director of the Teatro Regio di Parma will pay tribute to the composer followed by a performance of Va’ pensiero by the Corale Giuseppe Verdi di Parma and the Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma, under the direction of Martino Faggiani and pianist Claudia Zucconi.

In the evening the Festival will hold a Gala Verdiano at the Teatro Regio di Parma. Ludovic Tézier will replace Luca Salsi, who was forced to cancel, and will be joined alongside Roberto Tagliavini, in a program of arias and duets from “Un ballo in maschera,” “Don Carlo,” “Attila,” “Otello,” “Luisa Miller,” “Falstaff,” and “Rigoletto.” The gala will be broadcast on 12 Tv Parma, Lepida Tv, www.radioemiliaromagna.it, and on the Teatro Regio di Parma’s website.

There will also be celebrations in a program entitled Verdi Off featuring students of the Parma Conservatory and other events.