| Sanremo Music Festival 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Tutti cantano Sanremo | |
 | |
| Dates | |
| Semi-final 1 | 9 February 2016 |
| Semi-final 2 | 10 February 2016 |
| Semi-final 3 | 11 February 2016 |
| Semi-final 4 | 12 February 2016 |
| Final | 13 February 2016 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Teatro Ariston Sanremo, Liguria, Italy |
| Presenter(s) | Carlo Conti and Virginia Raffaele, Mădălina Diana Ghenea, Gabriel Garko |
| Musical director | Pinuccio Pirazzoli |
| Artistic director | Carlo Conti |
| Host broadcaster | RAI |
| Big Artists section | |
| Number of entries | 20 |
| Winner | Stadio "Un giorno mi dirai" |
| Newcomers' section | |
| Number of entries | 8 |
| Winner | Francesco Gabbani "Amen" |
The Sanremo Music Festival 2016 (Italian: Festival di Sanremo 2016), officially the 66th Italian Song Festival (66º Festival della canzone italiana), was the 66th annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, Liguria, between 9 and 13 February 2016, organised and broadcast by Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). The show was presented by Carlo Conti, who also served as the artistic director for the competition, together with Virginia Raffaele, Mădălina Diana Ghenea and Gabriel Garko. The program was written by Carlo Conti, Ivana Sabatini, Emanuele Giovannini, Leopoldo Siano, Giona Peduzzi, Riccardo Cassini, Martino Clericetti and Mario D'Amico.[1]
The Campioni or Big Artists section included 20 established Italian artists, competing with a song each, while 8 artists and songs competed in the Nuove proposte or Newcomers' section. The final for the Newcomers' section took place on 12 February 2016 where "Amen" performed by Francesco Gabbani was selected as the winner. The final for the Big Artists section took place on 13 February 2016 where "Un giorno mi dirai" performed by Stadio was selected as the winner. As the winners of the main section, Stadio also won the right to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016; however, RAI confirmed after the competition that Stadio decided not to participate in the contest, with runner-up Francesca Michielin and "Nessun grado di separazione" being selected by RAI as the Italian Eurovision entrant.