CREMONA – Traditions are like stars, they are born, reach their maximum splendor and then slowly fade away.. Is this happening at the San Pietro fair? One wonders, seeing at 10pm or a little more on Sunday evening many street vendors collecting their wares to leave Viale Po. The avenue appears barely lit by the bulbs on the stalls and the street lamps, without the traditional lights that made for a very festive event, at least for a time. Signs of a slow but inexorable decline.
A stall of South American products
And while many – but not very many – are walking along the avenue, there are those who put away their bags and handbags and confess: «There’s not much point in staying. The day is gone, but it is no longer the San Pietro it once was. A single day is a small thing and doesn’t work. Other times when there was the whole city and it was hard to walk along the avenue”. And while he speaks he waves, carrying a box on the truck. The image at 10:15 pm is that of a fair being dismantled, only a few years ago the lights on the stalls went out after midnight.
But times have changed. «Put the sausages inside, I’ll clean the plate in the meantime. We manage to get home earlier than expected», they say from the top of the counter of one of the food stands with chips, porchetta, sausages and the like. Yet the stalls were all full. «All the stalls have been occupied, in fact some did not leave early and were replaced by two other stallholders – say the Municipality offices in charge of street trading -. In total there were 201 benches with the possibility of remaining for the whole day on Sunday. This is the second year that the merchandise fair has been limited to one day, a reduction made after hearing from many of the traders involved in the San Pietro market.”
Stalls dismantled
There is perhaps a need for a relaunch – it is said in many quarters -, for a choice of merchandise to be displayed. St. Peter’s needs a makeover. Bags, handbags, food stands, shoes galore, cell phone covers and accessories: these were the goods that were the most popular, with street vendors coming from everywhere: many Indians, Chinese and black traders. The whole world gathered for St. Peter’s behind and in front of the pews, with elegant Middle Eastern dresses, bright colors for Indian women with their black hair tied back. In this we sense the sense of celebration, but perhaps not enough. From the Belsit ice cream counter, a historical and special observation point of the stalls of San Pietro: «It’s not the fair it once was. The attendance has been constant throughout the day, but there are no longer the crowds of the past». And between the teeth there are those who suggest: «Perhaps it would be better to go back to two days». A return to the recent past is upon us. We will see next June 29, 2025.
