Laura Pausini opens European tour in Mantova with 450,000 global tickets sold

European tour launch in Mantova

Laura Pausini opened the Italian and European leg of her "Io Canto / Yo Canto World Tour 2026/2027" on 1 October 2026 at the PalaUnical in Mantova. The concert marked the start of the European stage of her eleventh world tour following three months of touring across Spain, South America, and the United States that began in late March from Toronto to Santiago de Chile. Worldwide ticket sales for the tour have already surpassed 450,000 entries, with 5,000 spectators attending the opening night in Mantova. The 52-year-old singer emphasized her commitment to live performance during the European premiere.

If it were up to me I would live on stage, it is my habitat and it is an essential need for me to be in contact with the audience and meet again live year after year.

Stage production and setlist

The two-and-a-half-hour performance was developed in collaboration with artistic director Luca Tommassini, featuring an immersive fortress stage equipped with lasers and eco-sustainable visual effects. Pausini appeared in warrior armor holding a diamond sword, accompanied by a live band directed by her husband, Paolo Carta. The setlist opened with the title track "Io canto", originally recorded by Riccardo Cocciante in 1979 and featured on Pausini's 2006 and February 2026 cover albums. The show balanced standard repertoire like "Tra te e il mare", "Vivimi", "Simili", "Le cose che vivi", and "Primavera in anticipo" with fan favorites including "Benedetta passione", "Ascolta il tuo cuore", and "Mi rubi l'anima", alongside covers of Ricky Martin's "Livin' la vida loca" and Madonna's "La isla bonita".

Everything is at the service of music, the only true queen to whom we are faithful and that we live to protect, and I feel an enormous responsibility towards what music has given me and what the audience through it has returned to me.

Tour schedule and awards nomination

Following a second consecutive date in Mantova on 2 October, the tour travels to Milan for three concerts at the Forum on 4, 6, and 7 October 2026. The Italian run continues with double dates in Turin, Bologna, and Florence before expanding to arena venues in Germany and Portugal through late November. On 12 November 2026, Pausini will attend the Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, competing for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album with "Io canto 2". The global tour will resume in late February 2027 in São Paulo, Brazil, leading into five Italian stadium concerts and an additional European arena tour later that year.

Context and pre-show schedule

The Mantova concert arrived thirty-three years after Pausini's initial breakthrough at the Sanremo Festival with "La solitudine". One week prior to the Italian opener, she performed as a guest alongside Shakira before 50,000 spectators in Madrid, singing their duet "Antologia". Her preceding twelve months included singing the national anthem at the Milano Cortina Olympic opening, co-hosting Sanremo with Carlo Conti, singing at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monza, and performing at the football World Cup closing ceremony with Madonna, Robbie Williams, Justin Bieber, and BTS. An official pre-concert press conference in Mantova was canceled shortly before showtime because delayed rehearsals prevented her from allocating time for the media.