La Zanzara Tour in Rome at Palazzo dello Sport, November 7, 2026

La Zanzara Tour in Rome kicks off on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 21:00, at Palazzo dello Sport at EUR, Piazzale Pier Luigi Nervi 1 (00144 Rome): it's the first of the eight dates with which Giuseppe Cruciani and David Parenzo celebrate the Radio 24 program's 20 years live. You get there on Metro Line B, EUR Palasport or EUR Fermi stops, both reachable from Termini with no changes. Prices are published by the authorized seller listed by the organizers, and tickets are sold through the presale network authorized by the organizers, the same one mentioned in the tour press release. The show is produced in collaboration with VERA Produzione and conceived as a big party for the program's 20th birthday.

Language: performed in Italian. No English version or English surtitles are announced.

La Zanzara Tour in Rome on November 7, 2026: what kind of night it is

La Zanzara Tour at Palazzo dello Sport is the opening night of a run through Italian arenas that the official press release presents as the program's 20th anniversary party. If you know the program only from the car radio, at dinnertime, get ready to see it on another scale: no longer two microphones in a Milan studio, but a big-event hall with thousands of people sitting and watching two journalists argue, provoke and answer the audience.

A party for the 20th year

The press release issued by Radio 24 in September 2026 explicitly speaks of a big party devoted to the program's 20 years, set on the Rome date itself. The later dates, all in 2027, are the continuation of the tour. The November 7 date is the opening, and for those who love anniversaries it's also the only stop that falls in the calendar year of the anniversary. The first episode of La Zanzara aired on January 9, 2006: 2026 is the year of the full 20th anniversary, and Rome closes it with the biggest show the program has ever staged.

From radio to arena

The choice of arenas, the press release says, shows the strength the program has reached better than any figure. The move doesn't come out of nowhere: in 2025 La Zanzara had already taken its format to theaters, with a tour the press note calls an overwhelming success, with sold-out halls. In Rome that first experience went through Teatro Brancaccio on November 8, 2025. A year later, almost on the same date, the jump is one of scale: from the theater to the EUR arena.

What the press release promises

On stage, according to the official presentation, there will be iconic moments, memorable characters and phone calls that have gone down in the program's history. The text insists on one word, community: La Zanzara's audience doesn't just listen, it comments, argues, takes part. It's the promise of a show in which the audience matters as much as the two hosts. In our view, if you go to Palazzo dello Sport to see an orderly talk show you'll be disappointed. If you go to watch a live episode in the flesh, with all its rough edges, you'll get exactly what you paid for.

The eight dates of La Zanzara Tour, from Rome to Naples

La Zanzara Tour stops in eight cities between November 7, 2026 and March 27, 2027, and Rome is the first. The full calendar was published in the official press release and picked up by Gruppo 24 Ore, Radio 24's publisher.

Rome opens the tour

Saturday, November 7, 2026 at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome: this is the starting date, the only one in 2026. That a program produced and broadcast from Milan chose Rome for its arena debut has a simple explanation and a subtler one. The simple one is the size of the capital's listening base. The subtler one is that Giuseppe Cruciani, the man who invented the show, was born in Rome. The 20th anniversary party starts, in fact, on his home turf.

The 2027 calendar

After Rome the tour picks up again in January. On January 16, 2027 it's at Mandela Forum in Florence, on January 23 at Teatro Geox in Padua, on January 30 at Unipol Forum in Assago, just outside Milan. On February 27 it heads south to Palaflorio in Bari, on March 6 back north to Unipol Arena in Bologna, on March 20 it's at Inalpi Arena in Turin, and on March 27 it closes at Palapartenope in Naples. Padua, it should be noted, is David Parenzo's hometown: the second host will get his home night too.

From theater to arena

The 2025 tour went through theaters. The anniversary tour goes almost only through arenas, with the exception of Teatro Geox in Padua. It's a change of format more than of content. In a theater the distance between the stage and the last row is short, the voice arrives bare, and you hear the audience's reactions one by one. In an arena everything gets bigger: you need amplification, direction, sharper timing. For a program built on talk and instant comebacks, the real challenge on November 7 is this: keeping the tension of a live radio broadcast in a space designed for concerts and games.

20 years of La Zanzara: the history of the Radio 24 program

La Zanzara was born on Radio 24 on January 9, 2006, from an idea by Giuseppe Cruciani, and in 20 years has become one of the most listened-to radio programs in Italy. Its history is precisely documented, and it's worth going over before taking your seat.

A request from the director

In October 2005 Giancarlo Santalmassi took over as director of Radio 24. A journalist who came from TG2 and from running Radio Rai, he had already hosted programs like Viva voce and Hellzapoppin for the Gruppo 24 Ore station. Santalmassi asked Cruciani to come up with a new program. He had the model of his own radio creations in mind, but gave the Roman journalist total freedom. Cruciani took him at his word.

January 9, 2006

The first episode aired on January 9, 2006, in the middle of the campaign for that spring's general election. It's a debut that already says a lot: the program was born inside politics, among rallies, polls and statements, and from the start chose to comment on it without the measured tone of current affairs talk shows. Radio 24, after all, had been an almost entirely talk station since 1999, with news and in-depth programs instead of music: the right ground for an experiment of that kind.

The name and the theme tune

The title has two origins. The first is musical: Flight of the Bumblebee, used as the pre-theme. The second is journalistic and leads to Milan, to the Parini high school, whose student newspaper was called La zanzara and in 1966 ended up at the center of a famous trial over an investigation into sexuality. 1966 is also the year Cruciani was born, and the coincidence has escaped no one. Since January 20, 2013 the opening theme has used the chorus of Franco Califano's Tutto il resto è noia, and since then those four words have become the show's sound calling card. Another constant is the rock and heavy metal music used as background in the episodes.

The voices next to Cruciani

Before becoming the duo the audience knows, La Zanzara had other co-hosts. Corrado Formigli worked alongside Cruciani from 2006 to 2008, Luca Telese from 2008 to 2010. Then, in 2010, David Parenzo arrived. In the summers the program also featured the voices of Alessandro Milan and Alessio Maurizi, in 2011. From September 2018 to November 2021 a third voice joined, that of Padua journalist Alberto Gottardo. The two-person formula, though, is the one that made the program's fortune.

TV, the web, the podcast

From February 20 to August 3, 2012 La Zanzara also aired live on TV on TGcom24, simulcast with the radio, split into two evening blocks. For years a webcam in the studio has let you watch the show on video on the Radio 24 website. Then came social media, short videos and above all the podcast, which multiplied listening outside the live slot. Today the program airs Monday to Friday from 18:30 to 20:45 from the studios at Viale Sarca 223 in Milan, with a rerun after midnight and, since June 2025, a late-evening rerun on channel 246, dedicated to Radio 24.

The prank that changed the rules

There's one episode in the program's history that marks a turning point. On March 4, 2013 La Zanzara interviewed Valerio Onida on the phone, then named among the so-called wise men by President Napolitano, making him believe he was talking to Margherita Hack. Onida admitted that the group of wise men was mainly a way to buy time. The interview shook public opinion, and from then on the publisher banned prank calls that could turn into political news. It shows how much weight the program already carried in public debate.

Who is Giuseppe Cruciani, the inventor of La Zanzara

Giuseppe Cruciani is a radio and TV journalist and host born in Rome on September 15, 1966, creator and host of La Zanzara since 2006. His path starts in print, goes through political radio and lands in television, always with the same trait: provocation as a method.

Rome, the Virgilio, Sapienza

Cruciani grew up in Rome, graduated from the classical high school Liceo Virgilio and got a degree in Political Science at Sapienza with a thesis on Sendero Luminoso, the Peruvian armed movement. His brother Federico is a director and screenwriter. He's a Lazio fan, a detail that's never neutral in his city and that has come up on air more than once. For the Rome audience at Palazzo dello Sport this is the thing to remember: the most Milanese host on Italian radio, by place of work, is a Roman by upbringing.

From print to Radio 24

He started at a local newspaper and then at Radio Radicale, a school of political listening for a whole generation of journalists. He wrote for L'Indipendente and Il Tempo, covered foreign affairs for Liberal and Il Foglio, and worked as a producer for Euronews. In 2000 he was hired by Radio 24, where he hosted Linea 24, then 9 in punto, a program for which in 2002 he was sent to Korea to chase Byron Moreno, the Ecuadorian referee of the hotly disputed Italy vs. South Korea World Cup match. Then came La Sfida and, from 2006, La Zanzara.

Television

Cruciani's TV résumé is long. He hosted Complotti on LA7 in 2009, Apocalypse on Rete 4 between 2009 and 2012, Il Tritacarne on Current TV in 2011, La Zanzara in tv on TGcom24 in 2012 and Radio Belva on Rete 4 in 2013. As a commentator he has appeared on Controcampo, Tiki Taka, Dritto e rovescio, the Maurizio Costanzo Show, Quarta Repubblica and 4 di sera. He was also a judge on RDS Academy on Sky Uno. Television made him a familiar face, but radio remains where he's at his best.

The books

Cruciani has published a series of books that follow his themes. Questo ponte s'ha da fare (Sperling e Kupfer, 2009) on the Strait of Messina bridge project. Gli amici del terrorista (2010) on the Cesare Battisti case. Cattivissimi noi (Aliberti, 2013), written with David Parenzo and Emiliano Errico and devoted to La Zanzara itself. I fasciovegani (La nave di Teseo, 2017). Nudi. Il sesso degli italiani (2020). Coppie (2023). Cairo Editore published Via Crux. Contro il politicamente corretto (2024), Ipocriti! (2025) and Libertà. Tutto Cruciani dalla A alla Z (2026). Since October 2009 he has also written a column for the weekly Panorama.

The stage

Theater isn't new to him. Between 2024 and 2026 he staged Via Crux, a show against political correctness based on the book of the same name, and since 2025 he has been on stage with La Zanzara a teatro. So the jump to the arena on November 7 comes after two seasons of live experience. Cruciani has always called himself a radical libertarian, not inclined toward ideological labels: on stage, as on the radio, his job is to push the other person to the limit and see what happens.

Who is David Parenzo, La Zanzara's second voice

David Parenzo is a journalist and host born in Padua on February 14, 1976, alongside Giuseppe Cruciani on La Zanzara since 2010. Where Cruciani provokes, Parenzo replies: he's the counterpoint in a duo built on opposites.

Padua and journalism

After graduating from the Concetto Marchesi classical high school in Padua he enrolled in Law, but soon left university for journalism. He has been a registered journalist since March 2005. He wrote for Il Mattino di Padova, for Giuliano Ferrara's Il Foglio and for Liberazione, when Sandro Curzi ran it, where for a year he wrote a column on the Northeast called Hamburger e Polenta. In November 2009 he became editor-in-chief of the daily Il Clandestino, an experience that lasted a few months.

Local TV

His TV debut came at 22, on Odeon TV, with a program devoted to the Festival. He then moved to Telenuovo, where he hosted Prima Pagina for two years, and to Telelombardia, with a series of political and economic current affairs programs: Orario continuato, Prima serata, Iceberg, Giudicate voi. It was a training ground for studio debate, with guests and clashes, that would serve him well on radio.

LA7 and national TV

In 2007 he arrived at LA7, where he contributed to In onda and Omnibus as a commentator. In 2010 he hosted Titanic Italia on 7 Gold, in 2013 La guerra dei mondi on Rai 3, and between 2013 and 2015 he was a correspondent for Matrix on Canale 5. Back at LA7, he hosted In onda with Tommaso Labate in summer 2015 and then Fuori onda, again with Labate, from January 2016. From 2017 to 2020 he went back to In onda with Luca Telese, another former co-host of Cruciani's. Since 2023 he has hosted L'aria che tira. For Corriere della Sera he made two web series, Grazie Europa in 2014 from the European Parliament in Strasbourg and Alter Ego in 2015.

Radio 24 and La variante Parenzo

Radio came into his life in 2010, with La Zanzara. Since 2021 he has also hosted his own program on Radio 24, La variante Parenzo. It's proof that the sidekick role on La Zanzara is a stage choice more than a hierarchy: on air Parenzo has his own voice, and he uses it.

Books and festivals

In 2008 he published Romanzo padano with Sperling e Kupfer, a history of the Lega from Bossi to Bossi. Since 2023 he has organized and hosted, with journalist Alessandro De Angelis, the summer cultural festival Piazza Asiago, on the Vicenza plateau. In 2022 he received the first Premio Funari, a journalism award devoted to the legacy of Gianfranco Funari.

Cruciani and Parenzo: why La Zanzara's duo works

The Cruciani and Parenzo duo works because it's built on contrast: the tour press release describes it as the meeting of two opposite and complementary personalities, unfiltered provocation on one side and the constant search for a comeback on the other.

Two roles, one stage

On radio the mechanism is clear even to first-time listeners. Cruciani launches the topic, lights the fuse, gives room to the most extreme caller. Parenzo disputes, objects, tries to bring the discussion back to arguments. Often the hosts themselves become the callers' target, for their political positions. It's a role-play that has held up for 16 years, that is, since Parenzo came into the studio, and live it becomes almost commedia dell'arte: two fixed masks, an outline, and everything else left to improvisation.

Radio Belva, the only stumble

Not everything that works on radio works elsewhere. On October 9, 2013 Cruciani and Parenzo took the same style to Rete 4, in prime time, with Radio Belva, billed as an anti-talk show. The cast included Emilio Fede and Pinuccio as correspondents and journalist Paolo Ziliani. The program was canceled after a single episode, amid controversy over foul language, a near-fight with Vittorio Sgarbi and low ratings, around a 2.8 percent share. It's an instructive precedent: the Zanzara formula lives on rhythm and on a bond with listeners, and prime-time TV didn't suit it. The 2025 theater audiences showed that live, with the audience as conversation partner, the mechanism works again.

La Zanzara's awards and ratings over 20 years

Over 20 years La Zanzara has received a series of awards ranging from the 2008 Grolla d'oro to the Spotify Milestone Creator Award, and according to the tour press release it now averages over a million listeners a day.

The awards

In 2008, at the Premio Casinò di Saint-Vincent for radio, Kay Rush presented the program with the Grolla d'oro for best evening show. Then came the Premio Cuffie d'oro in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 (that year with the title of celebrity of the year for Cruciani), the Premio Satira Politica in 2012, and the Premiolino and the Ambrogino d'Oro in 2013. The Premiolino went to the two hosts with a citation recognizing them for creating a new radio language, halfway between news, satire and mockery.

Ratings

According to Audiradio data for the first quarter of 2026 cited in the press release, La Zanzara averages more than a million listeners a day. It's strong growth: in 2022 the average was around 400,000 listeners, and the increase, according to public accounts, began in 2020. Radio 24 as a whole ranks 10th among the most followed national stations, and La Zanzara is consistently one of its flagship programs.

The podcast

The program's podcast received the Spotify Milestone Creator Award as the most listened-to Italian podcast ever and the first to pass 50 million listens. That figure explains the audience that will fill Palazzo dello Sport: alongside longtime radio listeners, a generation that listens to La Zanzara on headphones, on demand, on their phones. That's another reason the 20th anniversary tour makes sense right now.

What you'll see on stage at La Zanzara Tour at Palazzo dello Sport

According to the official press release, La Zanzara Tour stages iconic moments, memorable characters and phone calls that have gone down in the program's history, in a show made with VERA Produzione. No set list has been published, and nobody should expect one: the very nature of the program is the unexpected.

The Brancaccio precedent

The presentation of the 2025 theater tour, published by Roma Capitale's tourism portal for the November 8, 2025 date at Teatro Brancaccio, described an unfiltered show produced by Paolo Ruffini for VERA Produzione: a cross between a talk show and a live happening, with politics, social commentary and provocation, rotating guests and an audience in the starring role. That's the base the arena show starts from, taken to a larger scale.

Characters and phone calls

Listeners know that part of the program's identity is its regular callers, the ones who have been phoning in for years and have become characters in their own right. The press release speaks of voices, characters and moments that leave the Radio 24 studios to become a show. Which ones hasn't been announced, and it would be wrong to guess: surprise is part of the ticket price.

The audience as co-star

La Zanzara's radio lives on calls. Live, the phone is replaced by the room: reactions, applause, booing, interjections. Radiospeaker's note on the tour puts interaction with the audience front and center, alongside debate, current events and provocation. For those in the audience this means one practical thing: the night will be livelier the more the room responds. If you'd rather watch without being involved, choose seats far from the stage.

The language

A frank note. La Zanzara's format is known for colorful language, vulgarity and heated verbal clashes, and sex is a recurring theme. There's no reason to expect a different tone live. It's worth keeping in mind when deciding who to go with.

A curious fact about La Zanzara Tour at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, November 7, 2026

The nicest curious fact about the November 7 night concerns the program's name and its inventor's year of birth. La Zanzara takes its title from the student newspaper of the Parini high school in Milan, which ended up at the center of a sensational trial in 1966. In 1966, in Rome, Giuseppe Cruciani was born. 40 years after that Milan school paper, in January 2006, a Roman journalist borrowed its name for a show on a Milan radio station. 20 years later still, that show comes back to Rome to celebrate itself in EUR's biggest arena. The circle closes with an almost literary symmetry, and it's not something the press office made up: the dates are all documented.

Then there's a second Roman thread. Radio 24 has its headquarters in Milan, on Viale Sarca, but keeps a secondary office in Rome, in Piazza dell'Indipendenza, a short walk from Termini station, where some programs are made. If you take Metro B from Termini to Palazzo dello Sport, you set off a few steps from the broadcaster's Rome home. A third curious fact, for those who love details: the program's pre-theme is Flight of the Bumblebee, that is, another insect. It's natural to read a sound game into it, the buzz that annoys you and that you can't swat away. A perfect image for two hosts who have made annoyance their job.

Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, venue of La Zanzara Tour's first date

Palazzo dello Sport is EUR's indoor arena, at Piazzale Pier Luigi Nervi 1, designed by Pier Luigi Nervi with Marcello Piacentini for the 1960 Rome Olympics. It's Rome's venue for big concerts and shows for thousands of spectators, and on November 7, 2026 it hosts the tour's first night.

Nervi and Piacentini

Palazzo dello Sport was born for the 1960 Olympic Games from the work of two names who shaped 20th-century Italian architecture: Pier Luigi Nervi and Marcello Piacentini. The square it faces now bears Nervi's name. Walking into that hall for a talk show, instead of a game or a concert, is a bit disorienting: the hall was designed for Olympic sport, and today it welcomes two journalists arguing into microphones.

The hall's names

If you have a few years of concerts behind you, you know Palazzo dello Sport by other names. In the 1980s it was the Palaeur: under that name it appears in Bob Dylan's official concert archive for three nights in June 1984 and for the concert of October 3, 1987. In 2011 it was the PalaLottomatica, the name it carries for Dylan's concert on November 12 of that year. Today it's back to its original name, Palazzo dello Sport. If a friend says they'll meet you at the Palaeur, they're in the right place.

Exactly where it is

The address used by ticket sellers is Piazzale Pier Luigi Nervi 1, 00144 Rome. Some sources and OpenStreetMap also give Piazzale dello Sport 1. It's the same building. The arena dominates the EUR district, built for the 1942 Universal Exposition that was never held, and stands near the EUR Laghetto and Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana. For a full profile of the venue there's the page on Palazzo dello Sport in Rome.

A hall for big events

The tour press release speaks of places reserved for big live events, and for Rome Palazzo dello Sport is exactly that. In the same autumn season the hall hosts concerts by Pooh, Raf and Bob Dylan, who plays two nights before La Zanzara. A talk-only show in the middle of a music calendar is a bold choice, and says a lot about the program's faith in its audience.

How to get to Palazzo dello Sport for La Zanzara Tour

The easiest way to get to Palazzo dello Sport on the evening of November 7 is Metro Line B, EUR Palasport or EUR Fermi stops, reachable directly from Termini with no changes.

By metro

Metro Line B serves EUR with several stops. For Palazzo dello Sport the two useful ones are EUR Palasport, which bears the hall's name, and EUR Fermi, about 530 meters from the arena as the crow flies. So the walk is short, a few minutes. For a night with thousands of people the metro is the most sensible choice: it avoids the parking problem and takes you right to the entrance.

From Termini and the center

From Termini, Line B reaches EUR with no changes. If you're starting from other parts of the center served by Line A, you can change at Termini. The practical advice is to leave with plenty of time: on Saturday night the metro is busy and, with a big event on, trains toward EUR get crowded in the hour before the start.

Getting back

The show starts at 21:00 and its length hasn't been published. Before leaving, check the time of the last Saturday night Line B train on the Rome transit company's website, and have a backup plan ready, a taxi or a ride, in case the night runs long. Leaving with thousands of people at once also means lines at the metro entrances: if you're not in a hurry you can wait 10 minutes and ride emptier trains.

By car and taxi

EUR is reachable by car from Via Cristoforo Colombo. On big event nights, though, the area around Palazzo dello Sport fills up fast and finding a spot near the arena gets difficult. If you choose the car, arrive well before the start time and accept a few minutes' walk. A taxi is a good option for the trip home, as long as you move a bit away from the main exit, where demand concentrates.

Something nobody tells you about La Zanzara Tour at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, November 7, 2026

What nobody tells you is that November 7, 2026 is a Saturday, and on Saturday La Zanzara doesn't air. The program is live Monday to Friday, from 18:30 to 20:45: so the Rome show falls on the only night of the week when the audience isn't used to hearing Cruciani and Parenzo. The choice, obvious for anyone organizing a tour with hosts who are on air live every day, has a curious effect for the audience: the night at Palazzo dello Sport is a Saturday episode the radio doesn't broadcast. Longtime listeners know how much the daily rhythm of the live show is part of its appeal. The arena replaces it with another rhythm, that of a one-off night.

A second thing that often goes unsaid: all the other tour dates are in 2027, between January and March. Rome is the only stop in the anniversary year and the only one in the autumn, two months before the next one, Florence, on January 16. If you want to experience the 20th anniversary party in the right year, you have only one chance, and it's at EUR.

Third thing: the 2025 tour stopped in Rome at Teatro Brancaccio, on Via Merulana, on November 8, 2025. A year later, minus one day, the show returns to the city in a big-event arena. Few Italian radio programs have made a leap like that in 12 months, and that fact, more than any ranking, measures the following the show has reached.

Tickets for La Zanzara Tour in Rome: what to know

Tickets for La Zanzara Tour at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome are on sale through the presale network authorized by the organizers, listed in the tour's official press release.

Where to buy them

Radio 24's press release names a single presale network for all the tour dates, and on that same network the Rome date is listed for Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 21:00. My advice is to buy only there or at its affiliated outlets. The secondary resellers that show up in search engine results have no connection with the organizers: inflated prices and tickets at risk of cancellation are the norm.

Prices and sections

Prices and seating sections are published by the authorized seller listed by the organizers. In an arena like Palazzo dello Sport the differences between sections matter more than in a theater: for a talk show, where faces and expressions count, a seat facing the stage is worth more than one closer but off to the side.

Accessibility

Arrangements for audience members with disabilities at this date, such as any reserved spaces and companions, should be requested directly from the authorized presale network or the organizers when buying. Better to do it early: reserved spaces in an arena are limited and follow their own rules.

My tip for La Zanzara Tour at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, November 7, 2026

There's just one tip: treat the night like a live broadcast, not a concert. At a concert you can arrive late, miss the first song, catch up later. At a show like this the first minutes set the tone for everything: who launches the first topic, how the room reacts, which character comes on first. Arriving late means losing the key to everything that follows.

A second, practical pointer: if you can choose, go for a seat facing the stage even if it's farther away, rather than a closer side seat. In an arena the words come through the amplification, and the amplification is designed for people facing the stage. The two hosts' faces, the glances, the pauses before the punchline are the heart of the show, and you read them better head-on.

Third: do your homework. If you haven't listened to La Zanzara in a while, catch a few recent episodes on the podcast in the days before. Many live jokes rest on in-jokes, catchphrases, longtime callers, and knowing them turns the night from a curious show into a shared party. That's exactly what the press release promises: a party devoted to those who have followed the program for years. You can go as an outsider, but going prepared is another thing.

Last: choose your company carefully. The program's language is what it is, and live it doesn't get toned down. A perfect night with friends who share a taste for provocation can turn into embarrassment with guests who don't know the program.

How to plan your La Zanzara Tour night at EUR

A night at Palazzo dello Sport for La Zanzara Tour is planned around a fixed time, 21:00 on Saturday, November 7, and a district, EUR, which on Saturday night moves at a different pace from the historic center.

Before the show

On a November Saturday in Rome it gets dark early, and EUR, a district of wide boulevards and monumental buildings, is best enjoyed in the last light of the afternoon. If you have time you can arrive early, take a stroll around the Laghetto and then head to the arena calmly. Doors usually open some time before the show starts. Check the exact time on your ticket or on the channels of the authorized presale network.

Where to eat before or after

EUR is a district of offices and homes with a wide choice of places to eat: pizzerias, trattorias, international restaurants and bars along the main boulevards. On Saturday night, with an event at Palazzo dello Sport, the places closest to the arena fill up early: booking is wise. If you'd rather eat after the show, keep in mind that getting out of an arena takes time, and not every place keeps its kitchen open late. A practical solution is to have an early dinner in the area and leave just a drink for afterward.

After the show

The show doesn't have a published running time. On the way out the crowd splits between the two metro stops and the parking lots. If you're staying in the center and want to stretch the night out, you can take Line B back to Colosseo or Termini and carry on from there. If you're staying around EUR you have the advantage of avoiding crowded trains. A pro tip: agree beforehand with your group on a meeting point away from the main exit, because when an arena empties out phones struggle to get a signal and people easily lose each other.

What to bring

Rules on bags, backpacks and permitted items are set by the venue and the organizers for each event, and should be read on the ticket or the official channels. In general, for an arena it's best to travel light: a small bag speeds up security checks. In November you need a jacket for the wait outside, while inside, with the hall full, the temperature rises.

With teens and children

La Zanzara Tour is not a show for children. The program's format is known for explicit language, vulgarity and recurring sexual themes, and nothing suggests it will be different live. Check any age limits with the authorized presale network. With teenagers who already listen to the podcast the decision is up to the parents, but it should be made knowing what to expect.

Another well-known fact that rarely gets mentioned

Everyone knows that La Zanzara's theme tune is Franco Califano's Tutto il resto è noia. Few remember that it became the theme relatively late, from the episode of January 20, 2013, seven years after the program was born. For its first years the show aired without that chorus that now seems inseparable from it. It's a detail that says a lot about how long-running programs work: identity is built by addition, and some of the things the audience considers original actually arrived halfway through.

The same goes for the duo. Anyone who thinks of La Zanzara today thinks of Cruciani and Parenzo, but Parenzo arrived in 2010, four years after the debut. Before him the second voice had been Corrado Formigli, then Luca Telese: two journalists who later built major TV careers of their own. So the program was also a school. And the counterpoint role now identified with Parenzo already existed, and he made it his own to the point of making it inimitable.

Finally: La Zanzara was born on a radio station that had chosen to give up music almost entirely. Radio 24 started broadcasting on June 21, 1999, presenting itself as an alternative to the national music stations with a lineup of news and talk programs. So the loudest program on Italian radio grew up on the most sober station, owned by the group that publishes Il Sole 24 Ore. The contrast is part of the secret.

Radio 24, La Zanzara's home

Radio 24 is the national radio station of Gruppo 24 Ore, on air since June 21, 1999, and for 20 years it has broadcast La Zanzara in the weekday evening slot.

A talk station

The station was born under the direction of Elia Zamboni with a precise idea: to drop music almost entirely and build the schedule on news, business, politics and talk entertainment. The Giornale Radio airs every hour from 6:00 in the morning to midnight. In the afternoon there's Focus Economia, then, after 18:30, La Zanzara. Since 2018 the director has been Fabio Tamburini. The station's official voice is voice actor Christian Iansante, since 2006, the same year La Zanzara was born.

Milan and Rome

The headquarters were originally on Via Monte Rosa in Milan. Since April 2021 they've been at Viale Sarca 223, together with the rest of Gruppo 24 Ore, and that's where La Zanzara airs from. In Rome the station has a secondary office in Piazza dell'Indipendenza, where some programs are made. In 2019, for the station's 20th anniversary, Radio 24 presented a new logo with a dedicated event: La Zanzara's 20th anniversary, seven years later, is celebrated on a very different scale, in eight arenas.

What to see at EUR around Palazzo dello Sport

Palazzo dello Sport is in the EUR district, planned for the 1942 Universal Exposition that was never held, near the EUR Laghetto and Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana.

The EUR Laghetto

The Laghetto is the body of water the district opens around, a short distance from the arena. In the late November afternoon it's the right place for a walk before the show. The page on the EUR Laghetto tells its story and suggests walking routes.

Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana

Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, which Romans call the Square Colosseum, is the district's architectural symbol. It's worth seeing even just from outside, ideally in the sunset light. All the information is on the page for the Square Colosseum.

The district as a whole

If you want to turn the night into a half day at EUR, the guide to what to see at EUR suggests a complete itinerary through architecture, museums and green spaces. The district is unlike any other part of Rome: wide boulevards, long perspectives, an idea of a city designed on the drawing board. Seeing it before walking into an arena built for the 1960 Olympics helps you understand which Rome the show is taking place in.

The right photo to take at La Zanzara Tour at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, November 7, 2026

The right photo, for a night like this, isn't of the stage. From a distance, in an arena, two people sitting and talking become two dots under the lights, and no smartphone does justice to a conversation. The photo to take is of the hall: turn around for a moment before it starts, when the lights are still on and the rows are filling up, and photograph the audience. Thousands of people who came to EUR to listen to two radio journalists are the real image of the anniversary, the one no press release can convey.

Second photo, outside: the lit arena seen from the Laghetto side, with people converging toward the entrances. Palazzo dello Sport, with its bulk, is recognizable even at night, and a photo with the crowd moving tells the story of the event better than a selfie at the entrance. Take it as you arrive, when the last of the November sunset still gives the sky a bit of color. On the way out, in full darkness and with the crush of people, it's almost impossible.

During the show, a tip on manners more than on photography: no flash and no phone held up for minutes on end. At a talk show the noise and the light of phones bother people more than at a concert, and whoever is sitting behind you paid to see the stage, not your screen. Rules on photos and video during the event are set by the organizers.

Rome in November: the La Zanzara Tour period

La Zanzara Tour comes to Rome on the first full weekend of November, a period of late autumn when the city leaves the busiest tourist season behind and fills its indoor venues.

The weather

November is one of the rainiest months of the year in Rome. Days are still mild, but in the evening the temperature drops and a sudden downpour is always possible. For a night at EUR, with a few minutes on foot between the metro and the entrance, a folding umbrella and a waterproof jacket are good insurance.

The venue's calendar

The autumn at Palazzo dello Sport is packed. Besides the October concerts and Bob Dylan's on November 5, in December the hall hosts Irama, Il Volo and Anna, while Notre Dame de Paris is scheduled between 2026 and 2027. In the middle of this music lineup, La Zanzara is the only talk-only show. If you're coming from outside Rome you can combine two nights at the same venue a few days apart.

Some important events that happened here

Palazzo dello Sport was born for a historic event: the 1960 Rome Olympics, for which Pier Luigi Nervi and Marcello Piacentini designed the arena. Those Games were the moment postwar Rome showed itself to the world, and EUR, a district created for a 1942 Universal Exposition that the war had wiped out, finally found a public, international role. The arena is a direct product of that era.

In the following decades the hall became the place for Rome's big concerts. In June 1984, when it was called the Palaeur, Bob Dylan played there three nights in a row, from June 19 to 21, and returned on October 3, 1987. On November 12, 2011, under the name PalaLottomatica, the hall welcomed him again. On November 5, 2026, two nights before La Zanzara, Dylan is on the bill once more: few places in the world can tell 40 years of an artist's career through his visits.

On November 7, 2026 an event of another kind is added: La Zanzara, after the theaters of 2025, takes its show to an arena for the first time, and does it here, to celebrate its 20th anniversary. For the history of Italian radio it's a date to mark: a talk program trying to fill an arena with its own format. The press release presents it as a step that shows the strength the program has reached better than any number, and on paper it's right.

Who has passed through La Zanzara Tour at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, November 7, 2026

The first to pass through Palazzo dello Sport were the athletes of the 1960 Rome Olympics, for whom the arena was built. Then came the musicians. Bob Dylan is the best-documented name: three nights in June 1984 and one in October 1987 when the hall was called the Palaeur, one in November 2011 under the name PalaLottomatica, and again on November 5, 2026. The official archive of his concerts records each date with the name the hall had at the time, and it's a small history of the arena's names.

In the 2026 and 2027 season alone, Pooh play here on October 15, Raf on October 17, Kid Yugi in October, Irama, Il Volo and Anna in December, Sfera Ebbasta in 2027. It's a list that runs from classic Italian songwriting to the rap of the new generations, and shows how the hall is now the meeting point of very different audiences.

On November 7 it's the turn of Giuseppe Cruciani and David Parenzo, with the VERA Produzione team and La Zanzara's characters. For Cruciani, born in Rome and raised between Liceo Virgilio and Sapienza, it's a return to his city, in an arena, after the previous season's theaters. For Parenzo, from Padua, it's the first stop of a tour that two and a half months later will bring him home, to Padua. And for La Zanzara's Rome audience, which had already followed the show to the Brancaccio in 2025, it's the chance to sit in the same place where the audiences of Dylan, Pooh and the Olympics once sat.

Frequently asked questions about La Zanzara Tour in Rome

When is La Zanzara Tour in Rome?

La Zanzara Tour in Rome is on Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 21:00 at Palazzo dello Sport at EUR. It's the first of the eight dates of the Radio 24 program's 20th anniversary tour and the only one in 2026: the other seven are between January and March 2027, from Florence to Naples.

Where is Palazzo dello Sport in Rome?

Palazzo dello Sport in Rome is at EUR, Piazzale Pier Luigi Nervi 1, 00144 Rome. Some maps also give Piazzale dello Sport 1. It's the arena built for the 1960 Olympics to a design by Pier Luigi Nervi with Marcello Piacentini, near the EUR Laghetto.

How do I get to Palazzo dello Sport by metro?

You get to Palazzo dello Sport on Metro Line B, getting off at EUR Palasport or EUR Fermi, which is about 530 meters from the arena as the crow flies. From Termini, Line B takes you to EUR with no changes. For the return, check the time of the last Saturday train beforehand.

Where do you buy tickets for La Zanzara at Palazzo dello Sport?

Tickets for La Zanzara Tour at Palazzo dello Sport are sold through the presale network authorized by the organizers, listed in Radio 24's official press release, where prices and sections are also published. Better to avoid secondary resellers, which have no connection with the organizers.

Who hosts La Zanzara?

La Zanzara is hosted by Giuseppe Cruciani, a Roman born in 1966, who created it in 2006, and David Parenzo, from Padua, born in 1976, at his side since 2010. Before Parenzo, Corrado Formigli and Luca Telese had worked alongside Cruciani. The program airs on Radio 24 Monday to Friday from 18:30.

What happens on stage at La Zanzara Tour?

On stage at La Zanzara Tour, according to the official press release, iconic moments, memorable characters and the program's historic phone calls return, in a show made with VERA Produzione. There's no published set list: the format mixes current events, satire, provocation and interaction with the audience.

Is La Zanzara Tour suitable for children?

La Zanzara Tour isn't meant for children. The program is known for explicit language, vulgarity and sexual themes, and the live show carries the same spirit. Check any age limits with the authorized presale network before buying.

What are the other dates of La Zanzara Tour?

After Rome, La Zanzara Tour stops at Mandela Forum in Florence on January 16, 2027, Teatro Geox in Padua on January 23, Unipol Forum in Assago on January 30, Palaflorio in Bari on February 27, Unipol Arena in Bologna on March 6, Inalpi Arena in Turin on March 20 and Palapartenope in Naples on March 27.

To wrap up, one tip: go to Palazzo dello Sport knowing you're buying a live episode, excesses included, and not a packaged variety show. Arrive early, by metro, sit facing the stage and let the room do its part. If the program amuses you on the radio, the night of November 7 will be the best way to celebrate its 20 years. If it irritates you, stay home, because live it irritates twice as much.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

Planning a trip to Rome? The English-language guides for visiting the city are on ItalyPlanner.com.