The curtain closes on the fourth edition of “Caterina Sforza Festival of Forlì. The maverick 2024”the entertainment, culture and entertainment review dedicated to the “feminine” in all its facets starting from one of the most emblematic figures of the Italian Renaissance, an unconventional and extra-ordinary woman, promoted byDepartment of Culture of the Municipality of Forlìwith concept and artistic direction by Eleonora Mazzoni, writer and essayist.
THE IV EDITION
The festival took place from 9 May to 16 June with events spread throughout the city, including the Rocca di Caterina, recently redeveloped, made safe and returned to its former glory, the Diego Fabbri Theatre, Ex Atr and the Mega Mondadori bookshop of Forlì which hosted and collaborated on the “Portrait of an Author” cycle, new this year. Prominent guests enriched the edition, such as Azzurra Rinaldi, Roberto Mercadini, Mariangela Gualtieri, Nicoletta Verna, Chiara Mercuri, Jennifer Guerra, Stefano Bartezzaghi, Ester Viola, Beatrice Baldaccini, Jacopo Veneziani, Maria Pia Timo and Giuseppe Cruciani, for a total of 15 meetings, including appointments and also workshops with schools, animated by the great participation of an audience of all ages.
The “Caterina Sforza Festival of Forlì. The nonconformist” also confirms great success for the fourth edition, welcoming an audience of over 3,000 people, numerous sold out events where in some cases not all people were able to enter because all the available places were sold out.
“I’m happy, because for me renewing my gaze on culture means trying to be profound and at the same time accessible to a broad and intergenerational audience. And this year my fellow citizens warmly followed a program in which even complex books coexisted with unpublished performances, dissemination, meetings and shows – says Eleonora Mazzoni, artistic director of the Festival -. It was a festival of exchange and dialogue between guests and between guests and spectators. Because only exchange and dialogue undermine that “organized solitude” which is now the hallmark of our society. When we dialogue, we let the other inhabit us. And this allows us to enrich ourselves and reach out more to ourselves. To experience strength, trust and curiosity, the three key words of this edition, also discovering that the human condition is always fragile, unfinished, exposed to the unexpected. And in need of a community.”
“The personality and history of Caterina Sforza had disappeared from the city’s horizon” – comments the mayor of Forlì, Gian Luca Zattini. “There was no place, representation or event that recalled his name and deeds. We, with an operation of great quality and courage, have brought the figure of Caterina to the center of an extraordinary Festival, all about her, enhancing her qualities and characteristics within an all-female, modern and dynamic dialogue . This year, with the added value of the Fortress restored and returned to the public in all its beauty after decades of abandonment, we have told and developed an even more beautiful and evocative Festival, which all of Italy has envied us. I sincerely thank Eleonora Mazzoni for her extraordinary artistic skills and for her ability to stage a multifaceted and attractive event, which gave us moments of great involvement and fun.”
