It made its successful debut at the former Convento dei Minimi, packed with hundreds of people for two consecutive evenings, the “Festival of the topic at will”. An audience that was not only large, but also interested and entertained, listened to the economist last weekend Carlo Cottarelli talk about pop music, and the cartoonist, cartoonist and television author Makkox conversing about science fiction, their “topics at will”, appreciating the contributions offered with warm applause.
This was precisely the winning formula of the zero edition of the event, promoted by the Municipality of Roccella, produced by Elastica and directed by the journalist Tommaso Labate who brilliantly dialogued with the two guests. A successful and appreciated formula that allowed guests, stimulated by Labate, to choose what to talk about, giving voice to passions, interests and hobbies that were little known to the general public.
The mayor of Roccella, Vittorio Zito, was fully satisfied with the success of the event: «Launching this ‘sui generis’ festival, born and conceived in our territory, was a gamble: the number of spectators and the resonance it also had on a national team is a confirmation that we won the gamble.”
«We have achieved the two objectives we had set ourselves – added the mayor – to entertain the public with an innovative formula, but also to make the speakers spend a pleasant evening, giving them a space of freedom in a different guise than usual. Now we are preparing for the first “real” edition next year, in June, strengthened by this success.”
To carry out the event, the Municipality of Roccella was able to count on the support of local institutions and businesses that recognized themselves in the project, including the Calabria Region which was among the main institutional partners of this edition. After the appreciated cultural and musical “taste” of the event, the appointment is now in June 2025 with the first edition of the event which will be organized over three whole days of events.
