08 Jul 2020
The Italian region of Emilia Romagna has started to safely re-open after the Covid-19 pandemic. Museums such as Enzo Ferrari in Modena and Ducati in Bologna, the beach resorts of the Adriatic coast and the spas and wellness centres of the region are already welcoming guests again.
In light of the coronavirus, Emilia Romagna has implemented a wide variety of health and precautionary measures for hotels and accommodation providers, bathing establishments, restaurants, museums, spas and parks, amongst others, to make sure visitors stay safe and healthy when they can visit the region again.
2020 NEWS
Flight routes resume
Ryanair has resumed its services to Bologna, Emilia Romagna's capital city, on 1st July (flying from both London Stansted and London Luton airports) and easyJet will do the same from 7th September. During the summer season, Ryanair will be also flying to Rimini weekly from 4th July. Rimini, on the Adriatic Coast, is one of Italy's most popular family-friendly beach resorts and one of the largest and most famous in Europe, featuring 15km of fine sandy beach with excellent bathing facilities for all members of the family.
Ravenna Festival (21 June - 30 July) marks the restart of 'the Italy of music'
The popular Ravenna Festival has returned to the city of mosaics, bringing live concerts back to Italy for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. With a re-imagined events programme, the 31st edition of the Ravenna Festival kicked off with an open-air concert led by Italian conductor, Riccardo Muti, in Ravenna's 15th century fortress, Rocca Brancaleone. It was Muti who, in 1990, directed the opening concert of the first edition of Ravenna Festival inside the fortress.
The festival will feature up to 40 events until 30 July. Rocca Brancaleone will be the main stage but the festival will also take place in the nearby cities of Cervia and Lugo. Social-distancing measures are being applied in order to grant the complete safety of the artists, members of staff and 250 spectators allowed to the events.
Alongside its usual programmes of international guest artists, the Ravenna Festival has always being supporting the next generation of musicians and, as it is young artists those affected the most during the pandemic, they will be the first to be offered engagements to play. As a result, the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, which was created by Muti in 2004 as a training ground for professional musicians under 30, will perform on several occasions throughout the festival.
Pellegrino Artusi's Bicentenary in August
August 2020 will see the bicentenary of the birth of Pellegrino Artusi, who was born on 4 August 1820 in the town of Forlimpopoli – the same day as National Italian Food Day. Pellegrino Artusi is the acknowledged father of Italian domestic cuisine and the author of the internationally renowned book, “Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well,” considered worldwide as the Bible of Italian cuisine. Artusi rose to prominence after collecting over 700 Italian home recipes and their stories to create what is often referred to as the world's first recipe book. The book, published in 1891, was not only a showcase of gastronomic traditions from both northern and southern Italy, but also contributed to the cultural formation of the newly born Italian nation. Italy, in its long history, had never been a whole single state until 1861. Over the decades the book was, and still is now, a hugely popular work that has been translated and sold throughout the world. Since it was first published to today, it continues to be considered by many as a cornerstone of Italian culture, language and traditions, holding it in similar estimate as Dante's Divine Comedy.
The Casa Artusi Cookery School is a complex devoted to Pellegrino Artusi, featuring a cooking laboratory and restaurant where people take a wide variety of cookery lessons. Some of the most significant names in national catering have worked alongside the Casa Artusi Cookery School over the years, with an impressive list of professional teachers available to coach participants using their skilled and excellent knowledge of domestic cookery. Casa Artusi is the very first centre of gastronomic culture to be established, often referred to as a living museum to home cookery with a library, restaurant, cookery school, wine cellar, bookshop, museum and events space.
Verdi Festival (24 Sep – 18 Oct) returns in September
The 20th edition of the popular Verdi Festival will be taking place later on this year in the cultural and foodie city of Parma, an hour away from the capital, Bologna. The annual festival is a celebration of the music of Giuseppe Verdi, one of the world's greatest opera composers, also known as “the Maestro”.
The 2020 programme will include a concert version of 'Ernani' at the stunning Teatro Regio di Parma; 'Rigoletto' at Teatro Verdi in Busseto (outside Parma); and 'Macbeth' at the church of St. Francesco del Prato, amongst other plays. The operatic dramma lirico 'I lombardi alla prima crociata' will be opening the festival on 24 September at Teatro Regio di Parma.
Giuseppe Verdi was born in the village of Roncole, outside Parma, and lived in the close town of Busseto for a great part of his life. The Maestro still fascinates music lovers and people who are interested in the life of this composer, profoundly linked to Italy's Risorgimento age.
https://www.teatroregioparma.it/en/festival-verdi-2020/
Giro d'Italia confirmed to go through Emilia Romagna in October
Emilia Romagna will be hosting three stages of the Giro d'Italia on 14, 15, 16 October 2020. The Giro d'Italia, which makes up cycling's prestigious three-week-long Grand Tours along with the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, will be going through the diverse landscapes and terrains of the region with the impressive Modena Apennines in the background. Boasting two national parks, 13 nature reserves and 8,000km of cycling routes, Emilia Romagna is the ideal Italian destination for a cycling adventure. The region features a phenomenal variety of terrains to suit all kinds of cyclists: from challenging ascents up into the mountains to flatter routes along quiet country roads, weaving between historical towns and landmarks and, of course, gastronomy delights.
https://emiliaromagnaturismo.it/en/sport/cycling
2021 NEWS
Parma, Italian Capital of Culture in 2021
The city of Parma has been chosen as the Italian Capital of Culture in 2021. Every year, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism designs a “Capital of Culture” with the aim to support and enhance the cultural activities of the country's cities. The UNESCO's Creative City of Parma was designated Italian Capital of Culture for 2020 but, due to this year's Covid-19 pandemic, it was decided to extend the designation through 2021. Therefore, Parma will have a unique opportunity to showcase its urban cultural life and developments for over a year – but not only Parma, as other areas within Emilia Romagna, such as Piacenza and Reggio Emilia, will also be featuring many cultural events and other surprises. Parma, located in the northern part of Emilia-Romagna, is also renowned for its gastronomy delights, especially for its Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
https://emiliaromagnaturismo.it/en/towns/parma
Ravenna to celebrate 700 years since Dante's death in 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Town of Ravenna will celebrate the 700th anniversary of the death of the Supreme Poet, Dante, in 2021, offering another significant reason to travel to Emilia Romagna next year. Dante Alighieri, one of Italy's most famous poets, considered the stunning town of Ravenna the perfect place to complete the Divine Comedy. Following his death in 1321, the city has been preserving the poet's memory for seven centuries with a beautiful tomb. Well worth a visit, the Tomb together with the Quadrarco of Braccioforte, the San Francesco Basilica and the Dante Museum form the “Zone of Silence”, an area that preserves the memory of Dante in Ravenna. Visitors can follow in Dante's footsteps, and visit the tombstone itself as well as the Basilica of San Francesco, where he was invited to maintain the silence, plus the medieval remainders of the towns that he travelled through. Visitors interested in a deeper immersion into Dante's life can follow a two-day itinerary to discover the three highlights of Dante's Walk: Ravenna, San Benedetto in Alpe and Brisighella. Visitors will be taken onto a cultural, artistic, historical and spiritual journey to the places where the poet stayed, influencing his life and his literary production.
https://emiliaromagnaturismo.it/en/itineraries/in-dantes-footsteps
For further information on the region of Emilia Romagna, visit www.emiliaromagnaturismo.it/en.
