The press conference to present the events promoted by the APS was held this morning at the association headquarters The Bearers of the Saint within the scope of events in honor of San Gerardo.
The Bearers of the Saint wanted first of all thank all citizens and institutions – Chamber of Commerce of Basilicata, Basilicata Region, APT Basilicata and Municipality of Potenza – which in various capacities have contributed to the organization of the events.
Thanks also went to the other city associations with which the Bearers have now built a solid associative network for the organization of the celebrations.
It was presented on musical program of the Potenza Folk Festival which, from 26 to 28 May, starting from 7.30 pm, will liven up Piazza Mario Pagano and will see alternating on the stage nationally renowned artists and local folk music groups, with free concerts.
The PFF will, as always, be supported by the Cantina del Portatore which will open its doors on the 26th with its food and wine offering based on typical KM0 products to be distributed to citizens and will be animated by the enthralling joy of over two hundred members.
The Amarimai concerts will be held on May 26th, group that combines the noble sound ofViggianese harp and violin to the instruments of the pastoral tradition, and of the Terraross, who will offer their music that smells of the South goes from the high peaks of the Gargano, travels through the Murgia to touch Salento and then finally arrive at the sea.
The May 27th we start with Accipiter, a folk group from Accetturaand we continue with a musical project by young people from Potenza, the Southern Freedom Flight, who absorbs all the texts of Lucanian popular music (in this case from Potenza with Michele di Potenza) and stitches them with Afro-American sounds.
The evening will conclude with Bandakadabra, who define themselves as surreal “pocket orchestra” capable of dealing with any musical language with an overwhelming comic-theatrical verve.
The May 28th with the final concert of EX Otago, the Bearers lead once again to the main square of Potenza, a group of national importance that highlights the sound imprint of the Potenza Folk Festival.
During the conference it was also announced that the “Antonio Statuto” Golden Bearer 2024 will be awarded to Gianluca Caporaso from Potenza, a nationally renowned writer and winner of the Elsa Morante Ragazzi award.
“In addition to being a native of Potenza who has certainly distinguished himself on the national scene, Gianluca Caporaso writes in the presentation on his website “I define myself as a person who tries to weave community threads.”
They explain from the association:
“These words particularly struck us because they allowed us to recognize a common mission: Caporaso is not only an extraordinary author but, like us, he lives and animates associative contexts, in the name of inclusion and participation”.
Delivery will take place on the stage of the Potenza Folk Festival and, like every year, the prize will be realized byPotentine artist Manuela Telesca.
Furthermore, during the three evenings, the distribution point for the t-shirts created as part of the Pare Parecchio San Gerardo project will be located at the Cantina del Portatore.
An initiative born last year and which has also been renewed for this year in collaboration with the Prison Prison of Potenza, the Officine Officinali association which operates in the penitentiary institute and the IPSIA Giorgi of Potenza.
In the last months the students of the Giorgi institute participated in a contest for the creation of graphics to be proposed on the t-shirts which will then be printed by the inmates of the prison thanks to a machine supplied to the Officine Officinali association.
There will be Friday 24 May delivery of the winning graphics to the inmates, who will print the t-shirts.
To begin to breathe the festive atmosphere, I Portatori have already launched various initiatives.
The youngest members of the association, who make up the Under30 group, organised “Waiting for San Gerardo”, aperitifs with DJ sets every Saturday in May in various venues in the city.
The Bearers in the Window initiative has also been renewed, with which mannequins with the clothes that will then be used by the Bearers of the Saint during the Historic Turks’ Parade are displayed in the windows of the historic center.
Among the activities already underway, that of The Portatori a Scuola, which this year involved around seven hundred nursery and primary school children for a total of around 10 institutes, increasingly enthusiastic about spending a few hours talking about our local history, also through fun moments such as the Puppet Theater which tells the story of San Gerardo and the Historic Parade of the Turks, guided tours in the Cathedral of San Gerardo and the “San Gerardiadi”, a journey with games from the past inspired by the monuments and cultural heritage of the city.
Here is a photo of the conference.
