The big day has arrived. Today the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, will be the protagonist of the official inauguration of Agrigento Italian Capital of Culture 2025. The ceremony will take place at 11am at the Pirandello Theatre, in the presence of authorities, artists and students and will be broadcast live on television by Rai. It is the beginning of a year dedicated to culture, art and the valorization of the territory. Shortly before the event, the Head of State will land by helicopter at the Esseneto stadium, where he will be welcomed by the mayor Francesco Miccichè and other local authorities.
He will be welcomed not only by the highest regional authorities but also by hundreds of pupils and school students, who will wave tricolor flags prepared by them for the occasion. “A day of welcome, a moment of celebration beyond the controversies that have occurred. But we are here. We have prepared the flags to welcome the President of the Republic. We are happy to be there”, he underlines Antonio La Lomiahead teacher of the Quasimodo Institute in Agrigento.
Presented by Beppe Convertini and Incoronata Boccia, the ceremony will last about an hour and will see alternating institutional interventions and artistic moments. Among the participants, the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, the President of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifaniand personalities from the world of entertainment such as Claudio Gioè, Gianfranco Jannuzzo and guitarist Francesco Buzzurro. The musical opening will be entrusted to the Choir and String Orchestra of the “Arturo Toscanini” State Conservatory of Ribera, directed by maestro Alberto Maniaci, who will perform Mameli’s Hymn in homage to the president.
The mayor Francesco Miccichè ordered the activation of the municipal operations center. Yesterday an important operational meeting was held in the Prefecture, convened by the president of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani, in the presence of the prefect Salvatore Caccamo. The meeting was aimed at coordinating efforts to ensure the success of the celebrations and address local issues ahead of the long year of events.
President Schifani, sweeping away the controversy, reiterated his desire to address the problems quickly and pragmatism: «We have already allocated 500 thousand euros for urgent interventions on the roads, completed in record time, and we will continue to work as a team to ensure the success of Agrigento as Italian Capital of Culture. No hypothesis of commissionership is necessary: our approach is collaborative and aimed at involving all the institutions”.
Another focal point was the fight against a negative perception of the territory: «We will not allow discrediting communication campaigns to damage the image of Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples». Among the actions immediately launched include interventions against coastal erosion in San Leone, financed with 13 million euros, and the improvement of the lighting of the Esseneto stadium, considered a strategic collection point in case of emergencies.
Once the leaks at the Pirandello Theater have been repaired, it rains instead inside the «Museum of Memory» of Santa Margherita di Belice, a site created eighteen years ago among the ruins of the seventeenth-century Mother Church which collapsed during the devastating earthquake of 1968. A museum which collects numerous photographic testimonies , also offers visitors the viewing of a period film and the front pages of the newspapers published in the days following the tragedy.