We’re here now. After the support from the Matera city council, there are a couple of days left to deliver the candidacy dossier, focused on a concrete program, to bring the 97th Alpine 2026 gathering to Matera and Basilicata. The group leader of the National Alpine Association (ANA) of Matera, Vito Giasi, and the vice-president of the Bari Puglia and Basilicata section, Francesco Berardengo, are following all phases of the process with scrupulousness and commitment. For the delivery of the application dossier, the “letters of intent” from the Basilicata and Puglia Regions are missing, which commit the two bodies to supporting the organization of the event. After which the official request passes to the National Council, which will examine and verify the contents of the proposals put forward by Matera, Genoa and Brescia. A phase that includes any requests for clarifications and answers on the programs presented. “There will also be a visit from the national events commission of Ana – says Vito Giasi – who will speak with the local authorities, to confirm what is expressed in the dossier, and will carry out inspections to ascertain the feasibility of the gathering. In the autumn in Milan the choice of the candidate city for the 2026 Alpine rally will be made. In the meantime, there is work to be done. But we are confident…” And many already “see” the black feathers parading in the City of Sassi, staying overnight in the various locations of the regions and echoing songs of a “Body” which in terms of unity, correctness and solidarity has proven to be linked to the Basilicata in difficult times. It is always Vito who remembers that Alpine troops with stars and from the Ana section of Vicenza were in Bella (Potenza) during the 1980 earthquake.
There was no Civil Protection yet and the contribution of the black feathers was important in rescuing the population, helping them get through the winter. The Bellese community was grateful to the Alpine troops, so much so that they dedicated a lookout in the town dedicated to Vincenzo Periz, president of the Vicenza section and national vice-president of the Alpine troops. Colonel Antonino Cassotta, commander of the Vicenza regiment, was awarded honorary citizenship. “And Bella – says Vito Giasi – will certainly host an Alpine demonstration, like Bari for the war dead at the Military Memorial”. The gathering will involve everyone: from Bari, the logistical hub for arrivals and departures of the black feathers, to Matera, to Basilicata.
PRESS RELEASE
The city council of Matera voted unanimously to support the candidacy of the city of the Sassi to host the national Alpine gathering in 2026.
The city council unanimously voted on an agenda (odg) to support Matera’s candidacy to host the meeting of the National Alpine Association (ANA) in 2026. In recent months, the IV Ana Group (Bari section) Puglia and Basilicata), has expressed its desire to nominate Matera as the venue for the 97th edition of the event, in support of which the drafting of a dossier of territorial adhesions is being finalised, which will be delivered on 28 June. Matera had already applied for the 2017 and 2021 meetings, always obtaining a positive opinion from the ANA delegation without however being designated. In fact, the city of the Sassi has never hosted this prestigious event and will compete with Brescia and Genoa for the 2026 edition; moreover, the year in which the territorial group celebrates twenty years since its establishment. Since the same years the gathering has not taken place in southern Italy, therefore hosting the event in Matera would be a source of pride and prestige not only for the city, but for all of southern Italy. The national world of the Alpine troops is already responding with formal adhesions and concrete actions for Matera’s candidacy, mobilizing with strength and enthusiasm. The mayor, Domenico Bennardi, accepted the proposal from day one, noting the excellent work of coordination and synergy carried out so far by the IV Ana Group, which is gathering widespread consensus among the local institutions of Puglia and Basilicata. For these reasons, a month ago the Culture and Sassi council commission heard the Ana di Matera group leader, Vito Giasi, and the vice president of the Bari Puglia Basilicata section, Francesco Berardengo, who illustrated the dimensions and impact of the gathering on the city and requested the Municipality to undertake to make available, after the possible desirable assignment of the meeting to the city, a sum equal to 50 thousand euros, according to the ANA Regulations. A sum which, after the Council’s green light, will have to be approved by the municipal council as established by the mandate contained in the agenda, if it is confirmed that Matera will host the 2026 meeting.
Matera, the first city in the South to rise up against Nazi-fascism, gold medal for civil valor, silver medal for military valour, World Heritage Site, European Capital of Culture, has already demonstrated that it is fully capable of events of large-scale, as occurred on the occasion of the G20 for Foreign Affairs and Development in June 2021 and the arrival of Pope Francis in September 2022. The meeting in Udine in 2023 led, in fact, to 105 million euros of economic benefits calculated on the basis of 297,000 visitors, and 26 million in tax revenue. The first numbers of the 2024 gathering held in Vicenza estimate attendance at 400,000 people, therefore higher than those of Udine. A unique event in the world, dating back to 1920, capable of bringing together hundreds of thousands of people in a city, attracted by the formidable bond of the hat with the black feather. An inclusive and transversal event, which involves territory, population and culture, capable of creating intergenerational sharing and closeness; It constitutes an important opportunity for socializing and strengthening the process of transmitting Alpine values among the participants. However, it is not only a moment of celebration of the Alpine troops and support for solidarity and charity projects, but it also constitutes an extraordinary opportunity to promote the local economy.
Matera, 25 June 2024
The press officer
NB the photos of the service are from the municipal administration
