Calitri: last destination of the "Festival of Roots"

The Festival of Roots, celebrated in three regions of Italy, Campania, Lazio and Trentino Alto Adige, ends its journey in Irpinia, in Calitri: a return to the origins to feel at home, wherever you live. 

Here, the Mayor Michele Di Maio, the administration, the Pro Loco and the local associations, together with the community, will prepare to welcome the last stage on 27 February 2025, with an event that celebrates the profound bond between the Italian-descendant communities and their origins, putting the intangible heritage of traditions, memories and local languages ​​at the centre. 

The Festival of Roots, a format created by Glocal Think - under the artistic and communication direction of Emanuela Sica - is not only a celebration but also a rediscovery and reflection on the roots that keep us united. The format of integrated communication and storytelling, conceived ad hoc, starts from afar to slowly and evocatively reveal the countries that the Festival touches with its peculiar routes dedicated, from time to time, to the dialect, to the spartenze, to the stories.

Calitri, which hosts the "Dialetto" stage, becomes the beating heart of an intense day, full of ancestral meanings, where the language of the soul and the earth, the vernacular, combined with the stories of emigrants, ancient knowledge and traditional flavors narrate a territory and its community, its people. What then is dialect if not a fundamental tool of memory and belonging, capable of preserving the most authentic nuances of local culture? Speaking the local language means keeping alive a language that tells the story of those who left and those who remained, of those who built bridges between distant worlds and of those who, despite being far away, continue to feel part of a community.

The day of February 27th will open, at 9.30 am, in the evocative setting of the Casa della Musica, in Piazza Salvatore Scoca, with a moment of reflection dedicated to tourism as a lever for local development. 
The conference "DMOs as a development tool" will see the participation of sector experts and local institutions: the Mayor of Calitri, Michele Di Maio, will welcome the participants, followed by speeches by Emanuela Sica, who is also Destination Manager of the DMO Irpinia Montagna D'Amare, and Vincenzo Castaldo, in the dual role of President of Glocal Think and of the DMO Irpinia Montagna D'Amare.

To complete the picture, the analysis of Prof. Valentina Della Corte of the Federico II University of Naples, an expert in tourism governance strategies. 
The discussion, moderated by Emilia Di Girolamo, director of the MAVV, will end with an open dialogue with local tourist operators, to explore new synergies and territorial valorization strategies.

The path traced, in the wake of the roots, continues at 10.30 am with an evocative meeting entitled "The journey of memory: from Calitri to America". A moment dedicated to the stories of emigration that have marked the Calitra community. Vitale Zabatta, president of the Pro Loco, and Don Cosimo Epifani will open the proceedings, followed by interventions that intertwine history, language and identity. Maria Teresa Maffucci will explore the richness of the Calitra dialect, while Mara Messina will reflect on the role of the dialect as a generational bridge between emigrant fathers and children born abroad. The stories of those who crossed the ocean will relive in the stories of Emilio Ricciardi, who will narrate the life of Humberto Zarrilli Caruso in Uruguay, and of Concetta Zarrilli who will bring to light the habits and customs of the Calitrani in America between 1934 and 1941. The moment will end in music with "A Cunversazion in Canti Popular", a choral meeting that celebrates the dialect through singing.

At 1.00 pm the Festival moves to the Crypt of the Mother Church for a community lunch with an authentic flavour. The “Let's eat in dialect” gastronomic laboratory offers the preparation of typical dishes such as “Cingul e acqua sala”, a symbolic dish of the local Calitra and peasant tradition. An experience curated by local associations together with Prof. Antonietta Abate that combines taste with memory, transforming food into a language of identity.

The afternoon, from 4.00 pm, will be dedicated to theater as a tool for storytelling and collective rediscovery. The theater workshop, led by director Gianpiero Francese with the collaboration of the Teatranti del Sipario, will offer participants the opportunity to interpret stories and experiences linked to the Calitra community, in a participatory narrative journey. The curtain will fall at 7.00 pm with the return of the theater workshop: a performance that will give voice to the stories that emerged during the day, followed by a final toast that celebrates the meeting and sharing.

The Roots Festival is not just an event, but an emotional and cultural journey that invites communities of Italian descent to rediscover themselves through the indissoluble bond with their land. 

But that's not all, the Festival will renew itself in 2025, evolve and be ready for new challenges.