TARQUINIA – The 18th edition of Pagine a colori ended on Sunday 28 April, a festival which over the years has seen the participation of a multitude of people. Over time, a small and extraordinary population of supporters gathered around him: girls and boys, girls and boys (from infancy to full adolescence) from the schools of Tarquinia, Montalto di Castro, Civitavecchia and Rome; many teachers and parents, adults without children or grandchildren, sensitive intellectuals and lovers of art and literature, school directors, tourists full of amazement, students of the IISS “Vincenzo Cardarelli” of Tarquinia, who always have a role in the creation, the kids from the CSM, those from the CAG, administrators or aspiring ones, lively or nostalgic elderly people, frequenters of exhibitions, concerts and libraries, local and other artists, illustrators, writers, publishers and guests of the festival, proud to do or have been part of it, young university students, protagonists of the first editions and today on the threshold of adult life. This varied, small population of PAGINEaCOLORI is the most beautiful and true confirmation that the event has been and is capable of being inclusive towards everyone, of responding to cultural, social and pedagogical expectations and needs, but also of entertainment, without however ever end up as a plaything for the little ones. The festival is truly an initiative of excellence, as the Lazio Region has defined it. It is proof that illustrated literature for children and adolescents is a dimension of inexhaustible richness and complexity and of very high cultural and artistic value. It is proof that the illustrated book represents an extraordinarily effective educational tool, at any age. We knew it, but all the editions have also revealed it to many, many others, becoming a crossroads of meetings and promoting new itineraries of meeting, reflection, human growth, designed with care, competence and passion by all the organizers. Furthermore, the festival is the only cultural initiative that has followed its path without interruptions with the succession of various administrations in the last eighteen years. Having reached this goal and close to a very important electoral deadline for Tarquinia, the small population of PAGINEaCOLORI wonders whether those who are running for administration of the city have an awareness of its importance and of the opportunity to place its realization among the priorities of a quality cultural policy, worthy of the beauty of Tarquinia and attentive to the promotion of reading, illustrated books, literature, education and training. The festival has grown and come of age, walking on its own two feet. But it can grow further and would like to do so with the trust and dutiful support of those who should have as the sole purpose of their commitment the free and passionate service to culture and art in all its expressions”.
