What better showcase than the great market exhibition dedicated to local excellence to enhance the roots and strengthen the link with the Garfagnana communities abroad, immersing oneself in the history and traditions that this territory still preserves. On Sunday (10 November) at 2.30 p.m., in the context of the Garfagnana Terra Unica 2024 event, the final event of the Garfagnana territorial project roots, identity and memory will be held in the show area at the tensile structure in Piazzale Chiappini in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, which saw the municipalities of Castiglione di Garfagnana, Fabbriche di Vergemoli, Fosciandora, San Romano in Garfagnana and Villa Collemandina network, with the coordination of the Union of Garfagnana Municipalities in collaboration with the Bank of Identity and Memory and the ParcoAppennino nel Mondo project and the contribution of local associations, on the occasion of the Year of Italian Roots in the World.

It will be a moment of sharing and final restitution of the unique calendar of activities that animated the summer, from July to September, with a series of initiatives with a strong identity character – from the Piazzolla Soy Festival to the S… La Rayz at Villa Collemandina at the Cambio della Croce in San Pellegrino in Alpe; from the National Extemporaneous Painting Competition in Corfino to the Boccabugia in Vergemoli; up to the Feast of the Patron Saint San Bartolomeo in Chiozza, the Feast of the Emigrant in Migliano and the Terre Meravigliosa festival in San Romano in Garfagnana – and during which new Affective Citizenships of the ParcoAppennino nel Mondo project were delivered – promoted by the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park and managed by the Union of Garfagnana Municipalities – with the aim of re-establishing the ties between the territories of the Park and the thousands of people who have emigrated from the ridge Apennine.

For the occasion, the films made and the promotional videos of the events will be presented, with the participation of Mariangela Dalfovo, Coordinator of the ministerial project for Tuscany and Liguria, the Italea Toscana team, the president of the Union of Garfagnana Municipalities Raffaella Mariani, the Municipal Administrations involved in the project, the protagonists and the communities that have contributed to the program also created in collaboration with the Paolo Cresci Foundation and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca.

Garfagnana Roots, Identity and Memory was in fact born from a call by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Maeci) which, for 2024, promoted the Roots Tourism project to strengthen the link between Italy and Italian communities abroad and allow Italian-descendants around the world to reconstruct their family history and deepen their knowledge of their culture of origin. The project aims to create a network of entities to be certified as Municipalities of Italian roots within the Italea roots tourism promotion program, launched by the Ministry itself as part of the Pnrr project and funded by NextGenerationEu.

“Garfagnana Terra Unica – declares the president of the Union of Garfagnana Municipalities Raffaella Mariani – is the right container to present the results of this important work of enhancement of roots and recovery of relationships with those who have emigrated abroad. These have been intense months that have allowed the population of Garfagnana to deepen and rediscover their roots and returning travelers to strengthen the bond with their land of origin”.