Future Forward: TOdays Festival

On August 25th, the Main Stage concert series of the 2024 edition of TOdays Festival kicked off at Parco della Confluenza. The event is a project of the City of Turin, organized by Fondazione Reverse.

TOdays Festival, which has been and will continue to bring life to Turin’s Circoscrizione 6 (Turin’s 6th District) from August 23rd to September 2nd, kicked off with performances by Jeremiah Fraites (The Lumineers), Bab L’Buz, Addict Ameba e SASSO, setting the energy for the days ahead. One of the most awaited acts was LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, the musical project born from James Murphy’s mind. Arlo Parks took the stage on August 27th, and on August 29th we will see OVERMONO, Yellow Days and C’mon Tigre. Mahmood will headline on August 31st, and the festival will wrap up in style on September 2nd with Massive Attack.

LCD Soundsystem via ig @daninitri

We had a chat with Fabio Boasi, vice-president of Fondazione Reverse (a foundation deeply involved in the cultural sector) to learn more about this year’s edition of the festival - the first one under their management.

“This is the first edition of the festival under our management.
I've always admired TOdays; it has always been a wonderful festival that also reflects my own musical tastes. This year, the City of Turin (which owns the brand as TOdays is a city-run festival with public roots) decided to issue a call for bids to outsource the organization to an external entity. We at Reverse stepped up, put together a proposal, and won the bid. Our goal was to introduce some new elements to the festival, starting with the venue, which has changed this year. From Spazio 211, we moved to Parco della Confluenza - a park still in the same area (North of Turin - Circoscrizione 6), allowing the festival to maintain its territorial identity. By changing the location, we were able to increase capacity and bring in acts that needed more space due to their larger audiences.
Parco della Confluenza is a park where two rivers meet: the Po and the Stura. This inspired the concept of this year’s festival which is to bring together multiple genres, each distinct from the other, on a single stage. And that’s exactly what we’ve done.
Over seven days, you can hear everything on the main stage - we decided to broaden our audience and expand our horizons. We kept the festival’s heritage intact, but we also aimed to bring in more pop artists, which is why Mahmood is one of the headliners. We're moving towards a more European festival model: lots of music, big legends, and also national stars. Despite tight deadlines, we’re extremely satisfied with the result. We also believe that this is one of the best lineups we’ve ever put together as an organization”.

Given its new green setting, TOdays is also committed to being a festival with a strong focus on sustainability. Through a series of precautions and best practices suggested to attendees, the festival aims to strengthen its commitment to responsibility and concrete action, with the goal of educating, inspiring, and motivating people toward a more conscious, responsible, and respectful lifestyle for future generations.

“We must recognize that festivals always have an environmental impact that can never be reduced to zero - it’s impossible. However, we can certainly mitigate this impact through best practices. At all the festivals we’ve curated, we’ve consistently implemented multiple measures, first and foremost the elimination of single-use plastics. All our festivals feature branded cups with the event's name, and we provide free water - we’ve never sold water at our festivals, as this is one of our key commitments. This year, we’re also giving out portable ashtrays for free, which has a significant impact. We’re in a green area, and we need to respect the parks, so we try to raise public awareness. In reality, the audience is already quite educated and responsive - also when it comes to waste sorting, which is facilitated by eco-islands. These are all small measures, but they collectively help to reduce the environmental impact, even if just a little”.

It’s not just concerts happening at the Main Stage of Parco della Confluenza: TOdays is, in fact, a truly expansive festival, surrounded by many side events, such as freestyle battles (organized by DOJO) and film screenings (curated by SEEYOUSOUND). The festival offers a diverse range of complementary activities, all designed to showcase and celebrate the Turin area.

“Throughout the festival week, many widespread events were organized, starting with the two previews curated by Jazz:Re:Found on August 23rd and 24th.
SEEYOUSOUND, an international music film festival, is showcasing music-themed screenings. At Teatro Monterosa was screened ‘MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM’ (by Will Lovelace, Dylan Southern, and Andrew Cross - 2022), a documentary featuring LCD Soundsystem, one of our headliners. Additionally, at local markets in the neighborhood, you can witness circus performances by Scuola FLIC. This is because we aimed (and tried) to provide a different kind of performing art, particularly since circus arts are often underappreciated. We also incorporated a more educational aspect, consisting of workshops and panels focused on soundtracks. In collaboration with SOUNZONE, a Turin-based producers group, we organized a series of meetings and workshops, including a contest to create the soundtrack for the festival's aftermovie. Additionally, the DOJO collective set up freestyle battles in the squares, aiming to highlight rap from its street origins - it’s a music genre that originates in that context, and we want to tell its story in that way. This is also a way to broaden horizons and give local realities the opportunity to emerge, and we are proud to showcase them through the festival. These activities have become an important part of the festival's narrative, so yes, we made a concerted effort to bring up all these activities beyond the concerts. We want to offer quality content, and there has been a great response to these events. Many of them even sold out, which means we’re heading in the right direction”.

Since this is the first edition, it might seem a bit premature to talk about it, but what are your dreams, ambitions, and plans for the near future of the festival?
“Our plan is definitely to continue, and it would be wonderful. The only clear directive given by the city is to remain in the outskirts of Turin - it's important to spotlight different areas, given how much is already happening in the city center. The ambition is to expand the festival and make it even more important - this year's lineup has already projected us in a more national direction than before. We’re committed to moving forward - we don’t rule out the possibility of doing something separate from the festival itself, but for now, everything is still evolving”.

frame from MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM via ig @cineteatromonterosa

With the 2024 edition of TOdays, Turin one again reaffirms its status as an avant-garde city, capable of reinventing itself and providing the public with a unique experience. The new management by Fondazione Reverse has infused the festival with fresh energy while maintaining its soul and identity: a future forward-looking approach that remains rooted in tradition. While we await the audience’s response, we look forward to seeing you there!