Italy's Premio Tenco, the long-running songwriting festival, is putting artificial intelligence at the centre of its 2026 edition, held in Sanremo from 20 to 24 October at the Teatro Ariston, the Teatro Casinò, the Club Tenco and the old-town Pigna. Organisers Steven Forti, Antonio Silva and Paolo Talanca have called it "Dio è morto", borrowing Francesco Guccini's song (and Nietzsche) to ask what human expression is worth amid global crises, tech oligarchs and generative systems.
The directors frame the edition around two questions: can a machine replace the singer-songwriter, and will creating stay a human privilege? As they put it, a person's song comes from memory, empathy and surprise, while an AI song is a product built to hit a competitive target. They tie this to the "democratic song", which they see as a tool of civic commitment in a world hurt by war, climate change and threats to democratic rights. A round table on the song in the age of AI on 22 October takes this up. On 24 October a session on the "democratic song" as civic engagement includes Fausto Bertinotti and Cesare Bermani.
Around that, the opening day (Tenco Off) shows three documentaries in the Ariston's Sala Roof 3, one of them on Paolo Benvegnù. The programme also includes a Franco Battiato masterclass with Carmen Consoli and don Luigi Ciotti. There is also a Mafalda exhibition, Paola Turci with the Sanremo Symphony Orchestra, book presentations including a tribute to Sergio Staino, and a panel on the record business with Gino Castaldo and Stefano Senardi.
Three evenings at the Ariston close the week. The Targhe Tenco winners, Caparezza and Carmen Consoli among them, play on 22 October. On the 23rd, career awards go to Manuel Agnelli with Afterhours and to Paola Turci. Awards for Enzo Avitabile, Frankie hi-nrg mc and Max Manfredi follow on the 24th, with Fabri Fibra and Giulia Mei among the guests. Web Lombardia, which published the line-up, casts the festival as a stand for human imperfection against the precision of algorithms.
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