Kanye West Books First-Ever Live Concert in Italy at 103,000-Capacity Venue
- - Kanye West Books First-Ever Live Concert in Italy at 103,000-Capacity Venue
Maggie EkbergDecember 21, 2025 at 10:46 PM
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Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
Kanye West is officially heading back to the European stage — and this time, it’s big.
On Friday, December 19, Rolling Stone Italia confirmed that the 48-year-old “Gold Digger” rapper will perform a massive live concert on Saturday, July 18, 2026, at RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The show will headline the brand-new Hellwatt Festival, with tickets set to go on sale Monday, December 22 at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster.
The venue itself is part of what makes this announcement such a moment. RCF Arena — also known as Campovolo — was purpose-built for large-scale outdoor concerts and can reportedly hold up to 103,000 people, putting this on track to be one of the largest shows of West’s career.
YE KANYE WEST TRAILER LIVE CONCERTJULY 18th 2026HELLWATT FESTIVALITALYRCF ARENA REGGIO EMILIAPRICE: Tickets starting at €89, while supplies last. pic.twitter.com/o7DSRxDpds
— YEFANATICS (@yefanatics) December 21, 2025
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Organizers are billing it as a major European return and the award-winning artist’s first live concert in Italy. While West did appear in Italy in 2024 for two listening events — and previously headlined London’s Wireless Festival in 2014, as well as Glastonbury in 2015 — he hasn’t committed to a full-scale European concert of this size in years.
Not long after those festival appearances, West’s relationship with live touring began to shift. In 2016, he abruptly canceled the remainder of his Saint Pablo Tour and was later hospitalized amid reports of exhaustion and sleep deprivation.
From there, his onstage moments became far less predictable. Instead of traditional tours, West leaned into event-style appearances. His 2021 Donda rollout centered on large-scale listening events in the U.S., and in 2023, he briefly popped up as a surprise guest during Travis Scott’s show in Rome. Those moments kept him visible, but they didn’t signal a true return to international touring.
Throwback to when Travis Scott brought out Kanye West to perform 'Can't Tell Me Nothing' at his concert at Circus Maximus in Rome 🇮🇹🔥 pic.twitter.com/Z7RDggVZf4
— Travis Scott Files (@travisscottfile) July 29, 2025
Italy also comes with some recent baggage. In 2023, a planned concert at the same Reggio Emilia venue was called off before it was formally announced, with reports citing safety and logistics issues.
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That context makes the Hellwatt Festival booking feel especially intentional. According to Italian media, the festival will span three weekends in July 2026, with the "Can't Tell Me Nothing" hitmaker set to close it out on the final night. Additional artists are expected to be announced in early 2026.
No statement from West was included in the initial announcement or ticketing information, and there’s no indication the Italy date is part of a larger tour.
This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 21, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
