The 2023 year of the Italian capital of culture has begun in Bergamo and Brescia. The two Lombard cities, in recent years, have been brought together by the tragedy of Covid which has hit their territories hard. Today, thanks to the rich program of the year of culture, they find themselves together in a major rebirth project. This was the leitmotif of the inauguration ceremony which was held simultaneously in the two most important theaters in the city, the Donizetti in Bergamo and the Grande in Brescia. A moment of emotion and sharing that brought the two cities into harmony.
Bergamo Brescia, two cities, one great project
After Procida, therefore, the ball passes to the two Lombard cities. To inaugurate the year of Bergamo and Brescia, which has as its theme that of the city that illuminates with culture, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, present at the Teatro Grande. The head of state underlined how the two cities "hit hard by the first wave of the pandemic were able to react, giving life, and feeding with their values, that model of solidarity that made it possible to face the crisis". 2022 was the year of “restart relief. Economic activities, social expressions, daily life have resumed more usual rhythms – added the president -. Bergamo and Brescia, however, had not stopped".
The inauguration ceremony of the two theaters alternated institutional moments with performances with performances by musicians and artists. In the audience in Brescia 205 mayors with the tricolor band attended the event. At the Donizetti in Bergamo the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, he underlined how the relaunch "originates from the culture that has always been the strong antidote to suffering". Precisely the initiatives planned for this year of culture represent a "prospect of rebirth through the noble choice of culture". To animate the redemption year of the Lioness of Italy, Brescia, and of the City of the Thousand, Bergamo, finally together, will be one hundred major projects and many other events that will be disseminated throughout the territory and which will be open to all.
Culture is also the courage to overcome antagonisms
“Culture – he underlined Mattarella, greeted at the end by a standing ovation in the two theaters – it is also the courage to overcome presumed antagonisms, to climb over walls, to step outside the box”. After the inauguration ceremony with the authorities, Bergamo and Brescia experienced a celebration of the people, with parades of citizens and opening events in their respective main squares.
(Photo Facebook Bergamo Brescia 2023)
