Festival calendar, Confcommercio meets the Pro loco

Grosseto. The president and the board of directors of the Campagnatico Pro Loco accepted the invitation to the discussion advanced in recent days half print from Confcommercio Grosseto on the theme of festivals and last Monday, at the Ascom headquarters in Grosseto, a meeting was held with the director of Confcommercio Grosseto, Gabriella Orlandothe president of the Pro loco itself, Andrea Vianiand another representative of the Campagnatico association.

“It was an enlightening meeting – tells director Orlando – because it gave us the opportunity to know the important and meritorious amount of work that the Pro loco of Campagnatico carries out every year not only with the aim of promoting the territory of competence, but also and above all to keep alive and possibly develop that system of social and cultural relations, the only barrier to the depopulation of the small villages of the Maremma. For us at Confcommercio, the regeneration of villages as places of pulsating, commercial, but also social life, is a theme of fundamental importance to which we dedicate a lot of energy. Learning, therefore, that this objective is shared and carried out in practice also by the Pro loco of Campagnatico was very satisfying and gave us the opportunity to better focus on the ‘festival issue’ of the town, from which the Pro loco must be kept out , whose example is instead to be considered exemplary”.

“Thanks to president Viani – goes on Gabriella Orlando – we were in fact able to take note of the transparency of the association in terms of budgets, as well as the effectiveness of the projects carried out in recent years to keep the country united and alive. The Donkey Palio is undoubtedly one of the most important and ancient historical traditions in Tuscany, the organization of which for several years now has been the responsibility of the Pro Loco. But it’s not just that. Activities in favor of the village’s schools are constant, as are cultural events also focused on popular traditions. Then there is the ‘History, tradition, characters and places in Di Venire’ project which, by bringing together local professionals (architects, artisans, etc.), looks to the future by enhancing the history and culture of Campagnatico. In short, it does everything a Pro Loco should do. And as for the events planned by it for the summer of 2024 and included in the famous council resolution which caused so much discussion, it should be noted that these only in one case refer to a festival: that of the tortello, strozzaprete and snail, which goes from July 26th to August 4th, i.e. 10 consecutive days. The other two events are events of a purely religious nature, connected to the most historical traditions of Campagnatico”.

“The commitment of the association led by president Viani, therefore, can only be appreciated. Perplexities remain, however – concludes the director of Confcommercio, Gabriella Orlando –, on the other 40 or more days of festivals authorized by the municipal administration. If in Campagnatico, the capital, the Pro loco correctly organizes only one 10-day festival in Arcille, where there are 5 ‘food festivals’ for over 30 days in total, what happens? There remains a strong doubt that these initiatives are just an excuse to open a mega open-air restaurant in derogation of the rules established for professional catering. For this reason, as already announced a few days ago, we confirm our determination to request specific controls by all the competent bodies”.