This year's Sanremo Song Festival will not have an audience in its historic venue, the Ligurian Riviera town's Ariston Theatre, Italian public broadcaster RAI said Monday. Outdoor events and programmes linked to the annual extravaganza will also be stopped, RAI said in a safety protocol it is sending to the government's COVID technical and scientific committee on Tuesday.

Preparations for he festival, which has been pushed back from February to March 2-6 due to COVID this year, were thrown into turmoil last week after Culture Minister Dario Franceschini came out against it taking place before an audience, even if it were made up of paid extras rather than paying members of the public.