“We need to understand whether it is the party that is having difficulty leaving Parco Nord or Parco Nord that is having difficulty leaving the party.” Pierluigi Bersani chooses the path of the joke to comment on the confirmation of the Bologna Unity Festival in the historic location despite the fact that last year it was celebrated «the last waltz».
Invitations to the wide field
The new festival will therefore return from August 29 to September 22, waiting to move, starting in 2025, this time definitively, to the Caserme Rosse. «The delays in the works for the Passante pushed us to make this choice – explains the provincial secretary of the Democratic Party Federica Mazzoni – because the area of the North Park was empty. Then we started working to understand where to do it next year and the choice fell on the Red Barracks.” For this year nothing will change, explains the organizational manager Lele Roveri, “we have crystallized the party”. The novelty will be in the reopening to other political forces, but those of the broad field, Mazzoni clarifies: «It will be an opportunity to reconnect the threads, because we must remain united».
The numbers
There are some important events on the horizon, in particular the start of the electoral campaign for the regional elections, but also the collection of signatures against differentiated autonomy. Returning to this year’s Festa dell’Unità, the goal is to increasingly involve the younger generations among volunteers and confirm the economic trend of recent years. In 2022, the Bologna event had collected a profit of just over 50,000 euros; last year it had grown to 107,810 euros, effectively doubling the results of the previous year. “Some time ago the goal was to achieve sustainability – explains treasurer Valerio Gualandi – now that is a given, we must confirm the positive trend”.
The leadership after the defeats in the runoffs
The future will still be at the Red Barracks: «It won’t be a more expensive party, the costs are similar – continues Roveri – the critical issues are mainly of an infrastructural nature but we are already working on it. The biggest problem will be the parking lot but we have taken steps to solve it, perhaps using some cultivated areas that in that period of the year would not be used by the owners. We will also collaborate with the organizers of Sequoia Park to activate some synergies that will allow us to obtain some savings». Finally, on the political front, attention is focused on the direction of July 10 in which the balance sheets of the recent elections will be drawn. Despite the loss of some historic fiefdoms in the administrative elections, starting from the defeats in the runoffs in Pianoro and Castel Maggiore, Mazzoni sees the glass half full. “Showdown? Let’s start with a Democratic Party that has returned to exceeding 40% of the votes in the territories. Make your own considerations. In any case – concludes Mazzoni – the balance sheets will be made at that time”.
