We start tomorrow 30th July with the events dedicated to the 40th INTERNATIONAL FOLKLORE FESTIVAL ‘Città dei Trulli’ 1984/2004… 40 years well done!

The rich program will start tomorrow 30 July at Casa Alberobello with two appointments: at 5pm the inauguration of two exhibitions: the photographic exhibition on ‘The 40 years of the Festival’ and the memory of Franco Pontrelli, and ‘Bicycle’ with the celebratory exhibition of paintings by Giacinto Angiulli.

The exhibitions will be open to visitors from 31 July to 15 August at the following times: 10/13 and 17/20. At 5.30 pm the conference dedicated to ‘ The pizzica pizzica: sonorities of tradition’ will offer important food for thought on cultural traditions and influences on peoples with speeches by Gerardo Bonifati, national president of FITP, Fabrizio Cattaneo, president of IOV Italia, Giuseppe M. Gala, ethnochoreologist and anthropologist of dance, Cosimo Palasciano, president of BCC Alberobello, Sammichele and Monopoli, Valeria Sabatelli, councilor for culture of the municipality of Alberobello, Lucia Parchitelli, president of the Culture Commission of the Puglia Regional Council of Musicians and Dancers. The conclusions are entrusted to Nino Agostino, president of Gruppo Folklorico Città dei Trulli, Francesco De Carlo, mayor of the Municipality of Alberobello.

The second unmissable event is scheduled for July 31st with the festival preview in Coreggia at 9pm in Piazzale Polivalente with the presentation of the ‘Coreggia2025’ project logo and the performance of the musical groups. On August 1st at 9.30 pm in Piazzale Miraglia in Alberobello with the folk evening ‘Alberobello – Pietramadre’ in which groups from the cities already designated Capitals of Culture plus one will take part: Pesaro Italian Capital of Culture 2024 with “Li Matti dé Montecò” – Montecosaro , Agrigento Italian Capital of Culture 2025 ‘City of Agrigento’, L’Aquila Italian Capital of Culture 2026 ‘Corale Gran Sasso’, Alberobello Pietramadre Italian Capital of Culture 2027 ‘City of Trulli. From 2 to 4 August at 9.30 pm, the dance troupes from Bolivia with the Ballet Folk ‘Universidad Mayor De San Simon’, Taiwan with the Folk Dance Company ‘Tainan’, Kenya with the Folk Group ‘will take to the stage set up for the occasion’ Tarumbeta Africa’, Serbia with the Folk Dance Ensamble ‘Sveti Djordje’.

To give further emphasis to the initiative there will be two moments of meeting and intercultural comparison both with the Alberobello families who moved to New Jersey and then met on the occasion of the Columbus Day 2023 celebrations and with a team of young students from the University of San Francisco who will create documentary films on the entire musical festival which will be distributed on US PBS television stations and in universities across the American country.

The event is promoted and sponsored by the Municipality of Alberobello which included it in the ‘We are in TRULLI 2024’ event.

From Thursday 1 August, “aspiring grape harvesters” can register for the charity event scheduled for Sunday 8 September from 9.00 to 16.00 at the Le Manzane winery (Treviso).

Reservations for the 13th edition of the “®Solidarity Harvest – Celebration and Charity in the Land of Prosecco Superiore” are at the starting line.

From Thursday 1 August, “aspiring grape harvesters” can sign up for the charity grape harvest day scheduled for Sunday 8 September 2024, from 9.00 to 16.00, among the Glera rows of the Le Manzane estate in S. Pietro di Feletto ( Treviso) by writing an email to info@lemanzane.it . The proceeds will be donated to Cè Da Fare ETS, the non-profit organization founded in 2023 by the popular Genoese actor and comedian Paolo Kessisoglu to fight youth hardship by taking young people without a compass by the hand and gradually bringing them closer to life and everyday life .

Since 2012 Ernesto Balbinot and his wife Silvana Ceschin together with their children Marco and Anna have been organizing the ®Solidarity Harvest in the splendid scenery of the Prosecco Superiore Hills, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019. Hundreds of people every year contribute to the charitable initiative by collecting the bunches of grapes destined to produce the bottles of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Docg personalized with the ®SOLIDARITY HARVEST 2024 label and sold in the pre-Christmas period. The ®Solidarity Harvest is a way to be together doing good and this is the basis of the feeling that animates the many friends who participate in the event.

This year the choice was to help the C’è Da Fare ETS association and support psychological and neuropsychiatric support projects for teenagers in difficulty. Although a worsening in the mental health conditions of developmental age subjects was already evident before 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a profound psychosocial change. At a national level, access to pediatric emergency departments for causes of mental decompensation has increased, such as suicidal ideation (147%), depression (115%), eating disorders (78.4%), psychosis (17.2%), self-harm (27%) and social isolation (Hikikomori) with a consequent increase in hospitalizations for particularly serious situations (39.5%).

The event begins with the grape harvest, continues with visits to the cellar, live Italian music from the band Fuori Orario Reunion and Alberto Ceschin, some moments of entertainment for the little ones with the juggler/acrobat Manuele Pascal, the Manzotti test drive Cars, the aperitif with Prosecco Superiore Docg Le Manzane, the products of the Fratelli Brunello Distillery, also protagonists of a cocktail competition, and the delicious fish “cicchetti” of Ca’ del Poggio. Followed by a raffle with prize draw. The morning ends with a tasty snack in “caneva”. Paolo Kessisoglu and his team of tireless cyclists participate in the event.

The participation fee to take part in the event is 20 euros for adults and 10 euros for children aged 3 and over.

The hashtag to follow the event and give it visibility on social media is #®️VendemmiaSolidale .

The Le Manzane winery is located in San Pietro di Feletto ( Treviso ), halfway between the Dolomites and Venice , in the hilly area of the province of Treviso, in the heart of the Prosecco Superiore Hills , proclaimed a World Heritage Site on 7 July 2019 UNESCO . The family-run company has been strongly rooted in the Treviso area as a producer for 40 years . The winery, among the most dynamic and interesting in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene wine scene, distributes both in Italy and abroad, reaching over 30 countries .

C’è Da Fare ETS is a non-profit association, founded in 2023 , from an idea by Paolo Kessisoglu which is committed to breaking down the stigma of mental illnesses in adolescents . Design and launch concrete projects , scalable throughout the country, which can take young people without a compass by the hand, gradually bringing them closer to life and everyday life. It collaborates with hospitals, UONPIA and other bodies capable of providing support to adolescents and families in serious difficulty. It informs on the topic of mental health, launches structured fundraisers , creates events , sporting and cultural initiatives to support the projects.

Carlo Pietrasanta, president of MTV Lombardia: “Four evenings dedicated to the unparalleled pleasure of tasting wine under the stars of the summer sky”.

There will be four summer nights, four magical nights (31 July, 6, 8, 10 August), dedicated to the wines of Lombardy, those proposed by the Wine Tourism Movement for the 2024 edition of “Calici di Stelle”. We will start on Wednesday 31 July at the Vineria del Vin Bon in San Donato Milanese: night of wine, notes of stars, from sunset to dawn. Over 20 labels for tasting, music, possibility of dining on the terrace from 7.30pm. Pocket, glass for access to the tasting counter and tasting of Risotto from the Vineria: €23.00. Dinner on the terrace from 7.30 pm with welcome toast tasting Aperikrumì: the savory Krumiro from Casale Monferrato di Corino 1764 (which will follow the entire Calici di Stelle Lombardia tour). To follow, appetizers with fassona tartare, veal with tuna sauce, courgette flan; encore first courses: Ligurian pansotti (vegetable) with walnut sauce, risotto with Ligurian pesto and crescenza lodigiana; dessert: star cake with passito cream ice cream. Guided tasting of paired wines: €36.00. Restaurant telephone: 0287260353 – 348 7674660. Repeat on Tuesday 6 August: by popular demand Calici di Stelle returns to the Naviglio Grande at the Bellariva Restaurant, in Alzaia Naviglio Grande 36. Everything as per tradition: the tasting will be enlivened by the unmistakable historical voice of Calici by Stelle, Valentina Bergo and, to follow, a DJ set. Over 30 wine proposals to taste, an intriguing Food Box and the Bellariva dish: €28.00. Possibility of à la carte dinner, upon reservation, with 20% discount. Local telephone number: 0289406068. The traditional Oltrepò event will not be missing, at the Certosa Cantù in Casteggio, scheduled for Thursday 8 August. Tasting counter with over 30 labels, “Mythology of Wine” curated by Professor Stefano Maggi and Doctor Valentina Dezza; “Jazz & Wine” concert with Ajmar Quartet; extraordinary opening of the Archaeological Museum; gastronomic accompaniment by Cave Cantù. Cost of the evening €20. It closes on Saturday 10 August with an aperitif with live music on the enchanting terrace of the La Casaia winery in Santa Giuletta: from sunset to late night with emotional toasts. Cellar telephone: 349 496 6503. “Calici di Stelle is increasingly an event awaited and appreciated by all lovers of Lombard wine: an event dedicated to those who have already gone on holiday and to those who have yet to leave, but above all to those who remain at home, enjoying the pleasure of semi-deserted and quiet cities.” Born in 1993, the Wine Tourism Movement is an association that includes around 1000 of the most prestigious wineries in Italy with the following objectives: promoting wine culture through visits to places of production, supporting the increase in tourism in the areas with a wine-growing vocation, qualify the tourist services of the wineries, increase the economic and employment prospects of the wine territories.

n search of the two tombs among the vineyards of the Vino Nobile estate in Montepulciano.

The festive August event of the Wine Tourism Movement this year with the theme TREASURE HUNT UNDER THE STARS attracts not only lovers of good drinking but also archeo lovers …

Here is the surprising treasure of Carpineto, to be discovered in the glass, in the cellar, in the vineyard and by exploring the magnificent Vino Nobile di Montepulciano estate where there are even two Etruscan tombs still unexcavated but whose area has been identified.

Guests will be welcomed into the Montepulciano Estate, a natural oasis of 184 hectares, where they will be introduced not only to the history of this prestigious winemaking reality but also to the cellar, the barrel cellar and the vineyards where expert Etruscologists have long since identified the sites of two Etruscan tombs.

And right here, outdoors, among the vineyards, the “virtual” treasure hunt begins led by an archeology and geology expert in search of the two Etruscan tombs that exist on the property of the iconic winery of great reds.

At the end of the walk the story begins about the Etruscans in the area, and in particular about their great culture of wine and agriculture.

They will be the experts of the archaeological group of the most important Etruscan museum in the area who will reveal secrets and techniques of cultivation and production of wine in ancient times.

“The search for the treasures of the past was seen, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as a real treasure hunt. Today official archaeological research makes use of cutting-edge technological instruments, such as common ground penetrating radar, magnetometers and photos at various wavelengths with drones, up to the sophisticated LiDAR system. All this has simplified the work of the archaeologists, but it has certainly removed the surprise and with it the emotion of the discovery that will be relived by those who participate in Calici di Stelle da Carpineto on the evening of August 2nd”, explains Paolo Dell’Agnello , Head of the Group Archaeological Museum of the Etruscan Museum of Chianciano Terme which will guide the experience as a new Indiana Jones .

All this will be accompanied by a convivial moment with an aperitif in which it will be possible to taste typical products of the area and some wines from Carpineto production ranging from reds and whites, including bubbles.

And if it will not be a real Etruscan Symposium with songs, dances and poems, it will however be a joyful rural banquet washed down with excellent wines.