From the end of June to the beginning of September 2024 the FAI Summer Evenings return. In the FAI properties, from North to South of the Peninsula, the opening hours will be extraordinarily extended to offer a unique experience: continue the visit until sunset to enjoy the particular atmosphere of summer evenings with a vast range of special initiatives. Over 300 events are on the calendar, including aperitifs and picnics at sunset, concerts and shows under the stars, short astronomy lessons, cultural meetings at sunset, trekking and guided walks at dusk to discover the areas rich in beauty that surround the Assets of the Italian Environment Fund.
The FAI Summer Evenings in the Heritage of Lombardy:
There will be many new features and curiosities during the FAI Summer Evenings which will take place in the Lombardy Heritage, alongside the beloved special visits, aperitifs and tastings at sunset and at night. For example, the gardens of Palazzo Moroni, the largest private park in the Upper Town of Bergamo, will host the Pellicole d’autore en plein air exhibition with the screening of six films selected for their quality, while the park of Villa Panza will be the setting for the Ars Sonora concerts with contemporary sounds in dialogue with the art collection kept in the Varese residence. There will be no shortage of events in the now cult event of “Astronomi per una notte” in various FAI properties, observations of the starry sky guided by experts and amateur astronomers, for this edition scheduled at Villa Della Porta Bozzolo in Casalzuigno, at Palazzo Moroni in Bergamo and at the Torba Monastery in Gornate Olona (info and complete calendar on www.serefai.it).
SPECIAL TOURS AT SUNSET AND AT NIGHT
Evocative candlelit visits will take place starting from the first weekend of July at Villa Fogazzaro Roi in Oria di Valsolda (CO), where readings of passages taken from Antonio Fogazzaro’s famous work “Piccolo Mondo Antico” will be offered and visitors will be able to stop in Franco’s garden for a picnic.
The Torba Monastery organizes four evening visits at sunset: on Saturday 29 June and 13 July a colorful journey through art, spirituality and beliefs is planned to learn about similarities and differences between medieval and contemporary man; while on 3 and 24 August the Monastery will be discovered in a story in which scientific research, archaeology, science and history are intertwined, together with popular beliefs of oral tradition and folklore. Exclusive visits will also take place in Palazzina Appiani Milan, which will be open only by reservation for special guided tours behind closed doors where it will be possible to enjoy the view of the city illuminated by the suggestive loggia overlooking the Civic Arena. (from Sunday 7 July).
TO Casa Macchi in Morazzone (VA) Friday 28 June and 23 August you can enjoy the atmosphere of the house and garden at sunset. Behind the doors, inside the drawers: wardrobes, doors and flaps open wide to reveal the events, tastes and daily rituals of the inhabitants of a bourgeois home between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
APERITIFS, PICNICS AND TASTINGS AT SUNSET
Saturday 22 June the Monastery of Torba will celebrate the Summer Solstice with evening visits to the ancient monastic complex, with the possibility of dining outdoors in the internal courtyard, surrounded by the timeless atmosphere of an ancient place included in the UNESCO World Heritage List; the sunset dinner will also be repeated on the evening of Saturday 10 August.
Sunday 23 June, 14 July, 4 August and 8 September Villa del Balbianello in Tremezzina (CO) will open exceptionally in the evening for aperitifs at sunset in the Loggia Segrè, while from Saturday 29 June the monumental Italian garden of Villa Della Porta Bozzolo in Casalzuigno (VA) will be the splendid setting for evocative picnics under the stars, among illuminated stairways, stone terraces, statues, fountains and flower beds. You can also take part in special guided tours and tastings of local products. An exclusive evening dedicated to taste is expected on Saturday 27 July in the suggestive Court of Honor of the Villa, with a dinner dedicated to local products and seasonal herbs, capable of embellishing every dish. In collaboration with Slow Food Varese and “I Rustici” Restaurant. Again, Friday 12 July Casa Macchi in Morazzone (VA) will welcome the public beyond the usual opening hours for a special aperitif with music and stories, also told in dialect, of the popular Varese tradition. This will be followed on Friday 26 July and 9 August by jazz aperitifs, in the company of the “T’n’T Duo-Dyna Jazz” with Tarcisio Olgiati on sax and Nicola Tacchi on guitar, during which to taste the famous “Caramamma”, a liqueur typical of Morazzone. And to conclude, a vintage aperitif dedicated to the fashion of the Roaring Twenties is scheduled for Friday 6 September: you will be able to listen to and appreciate the voices of performers such as Ines Talamo and Vittorio De Sica thanks to original records played by two vintage gramophones and literary passages and poems by writers in vogue at the time, such as Guido Gozzano, Amalia Guglielminetti and Anna Fougez, will be recited. TO Villa Panzahowever, the exhibition “Under a summer sky” is scheduled, five evening openings, from 6 to 11 p.m., with the possibility of tasting an aperitif in the park, organized by the Luce Restaurant (Tuesdays 9, 16, 23, 30 July and 6 August).
CONCERTS UNDER THE STARS
Music will be at the center of FAI Summer Evenings at Villa Panza in Varese which, in partnership with the Municipality of Varese, will propose the “Ars Sonora” event (Sunday 30 June, Saturday 13 and Sunday 21 July), a cycle of concerts at sunset aimed at exploring contemporary sounds strongly linked to the poetics of the collection The art created by Count Giuseppe Panza starting from the 1950s is among the best known in the world. Furthermore, during the evenings at Villa Panza, it will be possible to visit the permanent collection and the exhibition “Nel tempo”, curated by Gabriella Belli, with works by artists of the caliber of Joseph Kosuth, On Kawara, Hanne Darboven and Walter De Maria.
On Saturday 6 July the usual appointment with the Solisti Ambrosiani will be renewed at the Monastery of Torba while on Sunday 14 and Tuesday 23 July the jazz notes of the Woody Gipsy Band will accompany two evenings by the pool at Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, during which you can indulge an aperitif in the soft light of candles, among the large magnolias and the elegant façade of the house designed by Piero Portaluppi. Finally, on Monday 2 September, the Villa will host the 11th edition of the Beauty Festival and for the occasion Stefania Auci will speak with “Historical and literary icons in family sagas”.
OUTDOOR CINEMA
Furthermore, the vegetable garden of Palazzo Moroni in Bergamo, a vast countryside area in the heart of the Upper Town, will host the film festival under the stars “Barefoot in the Park” in collaboration with FIC-Federazione Italiana Cineforum. Author’s films en plein air; starting from Saturday 6 July fiction, documentaries and animated films will tell stories of dreamers, romantics and resigned nostalgics, which will invite us to reflect on the themes of environmental sustainability and the protection of the planet. The selected films are: “Princess Mononoke” by Hayao Miyazaki (Japan, 1997); “The White Diamond” by Werner Herzog (Germany, 2004); “Into the Wild” by Sean Penn (USA, 2007); “A world in danger – More than Honey” by Markus Imhoof (Switzerland, Germany, Austria, 2012); “Captain Fantastic” by Matt Ross (USA, 2016); “The electric woman / Woman at War” by Benedikt Erlingsson (Iceland, France, Ukraine, 2018).
During the evenings, the public will also have the opportunity to visit the property through special guided tours at sunset and enjoy a picnic in the vegetable garden offered in collaboration with the La Tana wine restaurant (by reservation).
ASTRONOMERS FOR A NIGHT
Unmissable in the FAI Summer Evenings schedule, Astronomi per una notte returns, the event dedicated to amateur astronomers and the observation of the celestial vault. The Torba Monastery in Gornate Olona will open its doors at night with the collaboration of the GV Schiaparelli Astronomical Observatory of the Campo dei Fiori in Varese – on the evenings of Friday 19th, Saturday 20th July – and Villa Della Porta Bozzolo in Casalzuigno – Saturday 10th, Sunday August 11th and Friday September 13th. In Bergamo, the appointment is at Palazzo Moroni on Saturday 10, 31 August and 7 September, for a guided observation by Gianni Locatelli and Luciano Pezzotti. Complete calendar and detailed information on www.serefai.it.
