The Vintage Show is the Guitar Show area entirely dedicated to vintage guitars and to the history of the instruments from the “Golden Era.”
This section, coordinated by Vintage Authority, a partner of the event for the past three years and a leading organisation in Italy, offers a curated journey built around original instruments from the 1950s to the mid-1970s.
Within the Vintage Show, visitors find guitars, basses, amplifiers and historic equipment, selected to represent some of the most significant milestones in the evolution of these musical instruments. The area brings together collectors, specialised shops and industry professionals, creating a context rich in expertise and direct accounts—a sort of shared space where instruments, stories and personal paths intertwine.
The value of the project emerges precisely from these combined contributions: diverse entities presenting fine instruments, thematic collections, documented pieces and curated content that allow visitors to closely observe the evolution of the guitar and the technologies that shaped its development.
From 2023 to 2025, the collaboration between Guitar Show and Vintage Authority has grown steadily, expanding its content, participants and overall exhibition level year after year.
In 2023, the Vintage Show debuted as a new dedicated area, involving collectors, dealers and restorers from across Italy.
In 2024, the outdoor area was enriched with demonstrations and musical performances focused on the stories behind historical songs, performed with original period instruments.
In 2025, with the relocation of the Guitar Show to Bologna, the project expanded even further thanks to the participation of new collectors and retailers, the launch of the Guitars for a Day initiative and the addition of artistic content such as clinics by Chris Buck and activities by the CPM Music Institute.
The evolution of the Vintage Show is supported by the experience of Vintage Authority—now Vintage Authority Events—which has operated since 2008 with a clear mission: to narrate the history of music through the instruments and objects that shaped rock history. Founded as a research project, the association developed through exhibitions, events, concerts and activities that helped establish a clear and recognisable exhibition language. From its early days with the Hendrix Day—which over the years hosted artists such as Eric Gales, Phil X, Matt Schofield, Doug Aldrich, Carl Verheyen and Scott Henderson—to the editions of the Vintage Guitar Expo, the association has gradually expanded its expertise, collaborations and vision.
With the Guitar Show’s move to Bologna, 2025 marks a further step in Vintage Authority’s evolution. The association adopts its new identity as Vintage Authority Events, initiating a more structured phase of its journey. Some internal changes accompany this transition, yet the core of the association remains strong and motivated, with a team that continues to operate with the same passion that has driven its growth from the very beginning. Today, Vintage Authority Events stands as one of the most active and qualified players in Italy’s vintage landscape.
Within this framework, the Vintage Show becomes one of the most defining sections of the Guitar Show: a place where the history of instruments is not only narrated, but displayed, played and experienced. A setting in which vintage is not nostalgia, but a shared cultural heritage.
