Zecchino D'Oro

Zecchino d'Oro is an international children's song festival that has taken place every year since 1959. It was started by Cino Tortorella, and the first two festivals were held in Milan. In 1961, the festival was taken up by the Antoniano Institute and moved to Bologna. In 1963, Mariele Ventre, a conductor and director of young performers, created the Piccolo Coro Dell'Antoniano Children's Choir (called Piccolo Coro "Mariele Ventre" dell' Antoniano after her death, and directed by Sabrina Simoni). From 1976 the festival took on an international perspective - each year seven Italian songs and seven foreign songs are sung by children and voted for by a children's jury. The winning song is rewarded with the Zecchino d'Oro (Golden Sequin) award.