The project Arena per Tutti (Arena for All), carried out by Fondazione Arena di Verona and Müller Italia, has grown by 44% in its second edition in 2024 compared to the first 2023 edition, becoming the most important accessibility project in Europe.
Over the 2024 summer, 3,521 people with disabilities were able to experience the magic of the Opera. 1,002 of these enjoyed the experience through multisensory technologies and itineraries in 25 accessible evenings of live entertainment, from June to September. All participants had the opportunity to follow the opera with ad hoc supports and itineraries, including audio description for blind and visually impaired people, as well as specific subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. Three different languages for these supports were available: Italian, English and German.
The new practices at the Arena di Verona have allowed the performance of opera singing in Italy, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Site, to be accessible to all. As many as 1,002 people took advantage of the supports and technologies during the shows, while 354 participated in the multisensory pre-operation itineraries, with an increase of 39% compared to 2023. Twelve events registered sold-out figures and saw the participation of numerous associations, including the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted with national chairman Mario Barbuto, and media attention. La7, Rai and Corriere della Sera, in addition to local and regional newspapers, spoke of the Arena project as the most important in Europe, in terms of numbers of spectators involved.
The numbers of the initiative
A viral initiative that reached over 14 million users on the social channels of Fondazione Arena, Müller and the influencers involved: Elisabetta Rossi, Daniele Cassioli, Giovanni and Andrea Cerullo, Anna Vernillo, and Marco Andriano. The website www.arenapertutti.it recorded 14,000 interactions and about 2,400 individual users who searched for information, with a great increase in foreign users, thanks to the translated content. 4,600 electronic libretti were consulted (30% in English), and 5,200 interactions for the Easy-To-Read fact sheets (half of which in English and German).
Arena per tutti involved spectators from 16 different regions of Italy and, for the first time, also from Germany, Austria, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, of whom 43% had never been to the Arena before, thus approaching the world of opera for their first time. Over 91% of those who used the tools enthusiastically reported that they appreciated the effectiveness and immersiveness of their evening at the opera. Thanks also to social and digital communication, the average age of 53% of the public was below the age of 55.
