The first edition of the Bologna Portici Festival received an enthusiastic audience response. The event was promoted by the Municipality to celebrate the inscriptionof the Porticoes of Bologna on the UNESCO World Heritage List and boasted a programme of over 60 events including dance and theatre performances, concerts, shows, guided and itinerant tours and a special event created by Cesare Cremonini which illuminated the portico of San Luca.

Over 35,000 people took part in the preview weekend (26 - 28 May) and the six days of the festival (13 - 18 June), filling the main squares of the city every evening. Around 100,000 people visited the portico of San Luca, illuminated from 19 to 25 June by the light design project, which saw the lights and music of the Bolognese singer-songwriter's stage projected along the 3796 metres of the longest portico in the world.