This year, Delicius is once again proud to support Festival Verdi 2025, renewing a collaboration rooted in the most authentic side of Parma, where a passion for opera and gastronomic culture have long existed side by side.
A celebration of Verdi
The festival’s 25th edition, themed “Verdi and Shakespeare”, will take place between Parma and Busseto from 20 September to 19 October 2025. Highlights include the Verdi Street Parade, which will open the festival through the streets of Parma’s historic centre, alongside major productions such as Otello, Macbeth (1847) and Falstaff in new stagings.
From the workshop to the stage, our tribute to Verdi is shaped by real stories. From the workshop to the stage, our tribute to Verdi is shaped by real stories. One of the most curious – and well documented – concerns an anchovy mentioned in the first act of Falstaff, the comic opera written in 1892. In Arrigo Boito’s libretto, set in the Osteria della Giarrettiera, a dish featuring anchovies appears among the lines of dialogue. Coincidence or a deliberate gastronomic choice? We’ll never know, but we like to imagine that both Verdi and his librettist appreciated them.
A tradition of flavour
At the heart of the Teatro Regio, anchovies have long played a role offstage as well. In the dressing rooms behind the boxes, families from Parma traditionally prepare buffets filled with local specialities, where bread and butter topped with anchovies are always present. It’s a tradition that feels both authentic and refined, and one that expresses the spirit of the city with simplicity.
For Delicius, sponsoring Festival Verdi means celebrating Parma’s excellence in all its forms and helping preserve a heritage of culture, flavour and identity. In 2025, our story continues to the sound of music… and anchovies.
