Mantova, a town moving to the rhythm of the festival

FESTIVALETTERATURA HAS FOR YEARS BEEN THE CULTURAL CELEBRATION OF ITALIAN AND INTERNATIONAL WRITERS, ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS. A TOWN OF ANCIENT TRADITIONS, MANTOVA MAKES ITS STREETS AND SQUARES AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC SO THAT IT CAN MEET AND EXCHANGE VIEWS AND OPINIONS, IN A PEACEFUL AND SIMPLE ATMOSPHERE.
CREATED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE BERLIN AND HAY ON WYE (U.K.) FESTIVALS AND PATRONISED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, FESTIVALETTERATURA GENERATED THE FIRST EDITION OF “SCRITTURE GIOVANI”, AN EVENT WHICH BROUGHT SIX YOUNG AUTHORS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES TO THE FOREFRONT.

One summer evening seven years ago, in one of Mantova’s most charming squares, Festivaletteratura was born.
That evening, the eight of us (those who later set up the organising committee) informed the town about our plan.
A dream plan that we had been studying and comparing for a long time and that we had redesigned to link it to our town.
An extraordinary town, a location that is perfectly suited to welcome whoever wishes to listen, see and think.
A town that, in the past, was able to produce culture, research and experimentation in its squares and buildings, just as we wanted for it to do
today.
That evening, people came in great numbers (much to our surprise), they listened to us and shared our idea: 4 days dedicated to literature that were rich in meetings with writers and artists speaking directly to an audience who wanted to listen to them in the many extraordinary corners in town, creating a highly favourable and uniting atmosphere.
A common bet shared and rooted among the thousands of fellow citizens working with us as volunteers, as sponsors, supporting us by offering hospitality in their homes, welcoming the authors, and by doing so much more… or, more simply, by being a friendly audience.
The writers and artists, from the more famous ones to the younger ones, also soon agreed to our plan, probably enticed by our stories and especially by those of the many friends helping us right from the start.
Enthusiasm has the ability of being contagious and this is the only reason that can explain the formidable network of contacts, common experiences and work that immediately came into being.
Along with us, hundreds of volunteers very slowly started believing in this festival and joined in to plan it in a festive atmosphere.
Simply, ruling out all distances and formalities, organisers-volunteersaudience- authors-the town followed our lead, instilling life (and they still do) into this festival that, according to what many say, is shrouded in “inexplicable magic”.
The wish of many – perhaps not always assessed and understood – to know, meet, be involved, came true here, where the Festivaletteratura tried – and still does – to offer stimuli to each individual’s curiosity. For six years now, the town has been pleasantly and peacefully invaded by a careful audience that is loyal to its yearly September appointment.
For the past six years, September in Mantova has been a different one, almost as if time were suspended in an ideal location (everybody’s town), where the very many events allow to build up personal and pondered experiences next to the hectic desire to see and listen to something different, something new (unknown) that is shared with others. Festivaletteratura is an “other time” for me too (and for all of us), a different time, almost stolen from the habitual time of our everyday life, a time used to work at a common plan through fun (and trying not to take ourselves too seriously).

VOLUNTEERS ARE THE VITAL LYMPH FROM WHICH THE FESTIVALETTERATURA IN MANTOVA DRAWS ENERGY. THEY ARE YOUNG PEOPLE COMING FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD TO OFFER THEIR HELP IN ORGANIZING THE FESTIVAL DAYS. THEIR CONTRIBUTION IS ENTHUSIASM, GOOD WILL, POSITIVENESS. IN RETURN THEY RECEIVE A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE. HERE ARE A FEW PERSONAL STATEMENTS BY THEM.

Patrizia Longo, Genoa:
“In waiting rooms one flicks through magazines almost without reading them but sometimes a page chooses you. Festival d’Italia: why not? It’s always nice to go on a brief holiday! It was back in 1997 and the adventure was starting in Mantova. That year I was nothing more than a curious visitor mesmerized by the unusual atmosphere. A very mild climate and splendid architecture embraced the Festival where international authors and common people, street artists and students, scientists and journalists were being drawn closer together. Among all these people, one can easily spot young boys and girls in their blue T-shirts, they’re very busy, loaded with bundles and packs, tired, sometimes they are unyielding but always polite and smiling: they are the volunteers. For the past five years I’ve been recovering the girl that is asleep in me: I slip my blue Tshirt on, hang my pass around my neck and treat myself to that magical event.
Quite often, I end up skipping meals and tiring my legs out to fulfil all the many chores but it is difficult not to respond to the intellectual stimuli I draw from all of this and which, during the rest of the year, I am often surprised to see blooming in my artistic activity.”

Benedetta Zecchini, Mantova:
“Festival volunteer: a volunteer and her camera. It was the 1998 edition of the Festivaletteratura, I’d been working as a photographer for 4 years, someone contacted me: would you like to take pictures of the authors in town during the festival days? So I’m there, with a group of other photographers who undoubtedly outdo me in terms of experience; we sort out the meetings, the job doesn’t seem to be difficult, but I’m nervous, I’m responsible for taking pictures at the children’s events and at several theater performances: it’s difficult to get the right light and to keep out of the way, I try blend into the environment. It’s fun and I manage to snap pictures that I like, so I do it again, 1999, 2000, a break, and again today, 2002. The job is more complicated now, as the festival itself has grown bigger, but also thanks to this experience, my way of being a photographer has changed: in the past, I used to enjoy looking for shapes and objects but now I find different images, I can broaden my search to include people, the people in a space, I try to grasp happy and lighthearted faces, funny or grave expressions, sentiments, sensations, not only mere shapes.”

Saniye Yilmaz, Germania:
“Being a small part of the festival, better still, being at the festival was already the most I could ask from this experience. I have never seen a whole town so involved in the materialization of an idea, working with enthusiasm for the success of the festival, so full of energy in those few days. Every step I made took me to places already imbued with history and becoming once again the background for new historical events. Indeed, the meeting with Mario Vargas Llosa was an historical one – at least for the simple reader. And, I’m sure there will be many other meetings that will be remembered in this way by readers like myself. I can’t wait to renew this experience.”