Vibo Valentia

The City of Tropea, after the “stop” due to the “restrictive measures” following the Covid19 epidemic, returns to host the International Folklore Festival “COMPARISON CULTURES”.

The festival, thanks to which in recent years many folk groups from all corners of the earth have come to Tropea, is organized by the Culture a Confronto association, chaired by Andrea Addolorato, national representative of FITP, the Italian Federation of popular traditions, and assisted by the ever present Antonino D’Aloi, Maria Carmela Crisafio and Concetta Lorenzo.
At the base of the success of the event, the great parade through the streets of the historic center of the city and the evening shows organized at the foot of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria dell’Isola di Tropea, conducted by Domenico Gareri, well-known conductor, author and director of major events , such as the “Festival del Sociale”, the “Cassiodoro Award” and “100 Years of Music”, at the helm of the format “In the memory of John Paul II” on Rai Uno for 9 years, Gareri is a very busy conductor on issues of a socio-cultural nature.
The festival is enriched by a series of events and collateral activities, such as the edition of a popular magazine, directed by the journalist Francesco Barritta, which tells the many guests of Tropea and the entire Calabria region about the peculiarities of the peoples represented by the folkloric groups guests of the event, with particular attention to the place of origin and the characteristics of the songs, music and folkloric dances brought to the festival stage.
Among the most eagerly awaited moments is the “Culture in Confrontation Award”, now in its sixth edition, which is awarded annually to those who stand out in the field of promoting dialogue between peoples. The award, designed and created by the goldsmith master Michele Affidato, this year will be awarded to Adele Laface, aka Adela, to Sergio Crocco, of the non-profit organization La Terra di Piero and to Ciro D’Aniello, a Neapolitan director.
Adela is a singer, actress and writer who participates in national and foreign tours promoting the ethnic music of southern Italy both during her performances and by recording her own music in music collections for which she has availed herself of the collaboration of the greatest artists in the sector ( Danilo Amerio, Mariella Nava, Mimmo Cavallaro and Marco Poeta).
Crocco is awarded for his work with “La Terra di Piero”, which is an association based in Cosenza, dedicated to the memory of Piero Romeo, “friend and brother, companion of the least and marginalized”. for his tireless work of solidarity crossing the borders of the bruzia capital and extending a helping hand to the most needy, reaching as far as Africa.
D’Aniello stood out for his latest work, entitled “Ciruzziello”, already awarded at the Naples Film Festival. D’Aniello studied directing at the Nucta Cinecittà and then graduated in Cinema with 110 cum laude from the Faculty of Letters of La Sapienza. After gaining experience in various film sets as assistant director, since 2006 he has worked in Rai, continuing to record several video clips, commercials and documentaries. The short film about him talks about a very delicate issue: the problems faced by Antonietta, an elderly mother struggling with Vincenzo, her unfortunate son with a brain injury, forced into a wheelchair in a semi-vegetative state.
Alongside the winners of the award, during the evening shows, conducted by Gareri, other important guests will take the stage of the Festival. The program is developed on the two evenings of Sunday 21 and Monday 22 August, with the theme “Journey between peoples and peoples”. The first evening will begin with the traditional parade of groups through the historic center of Tropea starting at 20.30, where the groups will reach the area used as an open-air theater at the foot of the island’s Sanctuary and, afterwards, the performances will begin. The first four groups to perform will be the Folkloric Ballet of the Ateneo Fuente from Mexico, the Folkloris Group Wieklopolaine from Poland and the Sunu Africa from Senegal, preceded by the hosts of the Tropea Folk Group. On the sidelines of the first evening there will be the awarding of the prize. The second evening, after the parade of the groups through the streets of the historic center starting at 20.30, will see the folk group “La Madonnina” of Messina perform on the stage of the festival, representing Italy, the folkloric Ballet Barcachile of Chile, the Folk Dance Group “Srem” from Serbia and the Asociacion Cultural de Folklore “Marisol Egea” from Malaga, Spain.
“As always – explains Andrea Addolorato – the spectators who will enjoy the shows will be immersed in an extraordinary and fantastic” journey “in many countries of the world, to discover documents of life, expressions of art and thought, testimonies of cultures and civilizations of people and peoples far from us, yet close because, with their performances, they demonstrate how every popular tradition represents the leaven of a historical process, the spring of its becoming, a condition – in a transcendental sense – of life and future reality.
This is the great reason for the growing success of Culture a Confronto; an event that continues to generate keen interest even in the new generations, aware that popular traditions reveal their creative strength, their ability to renew the world, while also renewing themselves, to produce and reproduce culture, reworking and enriching the heritage historical-cultural of which they are carriers.
We are sure, therefore, that the City of Tropea will want and will, as always, welcome, with affection and friendship, the groups of great international prestige that will come to our city to represent and make known the popular traditions of their countries and, at the same time , to enhance those moments of rediscovered spirituality, extraordinary moments of art and entertainment that the culture of the people can give ”.