The 366th edition of the Feast of Sant'Efisio will be a "great celebration of the people". Thus the mayor of Cagliari Paolo Truzzu, during the official presentation of the celebrations of May 1 which, after two years of silence due to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, will reopen to the public: faithful, tourists, citizens of Cagliari and other municipalities involved , Capoterra, Sarroch, Villa San Pietro, Pula.
"A moment of aggregation - explains Palazzo Bacaredda -, which for 366 years has allowed us to find ourselves on the path of the 80 kilometer long route that marks the way from the city to Nora, dotted with history, folklore, traditions and devotion".
PRESENTATION - The official presentation of the 2022 Festival took place in the town hall, in the presence of the mayor, the archbishop of Cagliari, Giuseppe Baturi, the president of the municipal council Edoardo Tocco and the municipal councilor for tourism, Alessandro Sorgia.
With them also the president of the Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone, Andrea Loi, the representatives of the municipal administrations of Pula, Sarroch, Villa San Pietro, Capoterra and the organizational director, Ottavio Nieddu.
"The conditions for a successful event are all there", explained Sorgia on the occasion. For his part, Truzzu underlined how the reopening to the public “calls each of us to a great responsibility. Because we know very well that we have not yet come out of this terrible tunnel. Therefore we must have great respect for the rules "to contain Covid-19 still in force.
A "SOBER" PARTY - "It will be a sober party, - added the mayor - it is a duty in the particular moment we have lived and are living. We know very well what are the situations that the country is experiencing, which it is experiencing from an economic point of view , the difficulties that many of our fellow citizens are experiencing. And we know very well what the situation is on a world level, what is the geopolitical crisis affecting Europe, what is happening in Ukraine ". So, out of respect for everyone, we have chosen the path of a return to the past, but in the name of sobriety ".
The goal, then underlines Truzzu, always remains that of "always giving a national and international profile to the Festival, an extraordinary kaleidoscope of scents, colors, faith and tradition that characterizes our city and Sardinia".
THE ALTER NOS - On the same wavelength, the Alter Nos, Viviana Lantini , "the call to sobriety - he explained - was a must. We could not have done otherwise. But at the same we also found ourselves having to guarantee a little of joy, a moment of happiness, a little light-heartedness and lightness for people. And after these years of suffering we all really need it ". Taking up the words of the archbishop "let us remember the people who are ill, who are experiencing so many economic difficulties. The Administration will do everything that can be done to help them".
THE PROGRAM - Then the announcement of the participants and the program on the streets of the capital. In detail: “The procession on Sunday 1 May will see 92 communities represented. Eighty-one will be the associations of devotees and 30 instead those of knights who will take part in it in traditional dress. And then, 4 choirs, 56 militiamen, 5 pairs of knights of the Italian Army Military Command, 18 tracas, with 270 devotees on board, to which another 2,500 on foot will be added. Along the way, between the passage of the knights and the arrival of the Saint, for the first time the wait will be marked by the religious songs of four groups "a Cuncordu". In Corso Vittorio Emanuele will be present on Cuncordu Sas Enas di Bortigali, in Piazza Del Carmine the songs "a tragiu" of the Bosa Choir, while in Largo Carlo Felice those of Cuncordu di Orosei and finally in Via Roma there will be Su Cuncordu 'e su Rosariu di Santulussurgiu ”.
COLLATERAL INITIATIVES - Already starting from Saturday 30 April, several collateral initiatives planned in Cagliari (where there will also be changes to the road network ). It starts on Saturday 31 April. From 9 pm in Piazza Del Carmine the musical show directed by Ambra Pintore will be held "Let's not stop the tradition": dialogues in music and poetry with the new expressions of popular music, from canto a tenore to electronic music. Sunday 1 May, from 6pm Toson d'Oro di Sant'Efisio Prize and to follow "Il ballo dell'Isola in Festa", with over 25 folklore groups and the participation of the master of launeddas Luigi Lai, the Logudorese songs of Emanuele Bazzoni, tenor Remundu 'e Locu di Bitti, tenor Murales from Orgosolo and tenor San Gavino from Oniferi. While waiting for the return of the Saint from Pula, on Wednesday 4 May from 6 pm the courtyard of honor of Palazzo Bacaredda will host seven polyphonic choirs from the territory of the Metropolitan City and Southern Sardinia, which will give life to an intense concert of sacred songs. At the end of the scheduled concert, at around 20.30, all the choral ensembles will position themselves in the main streets of the route to greet the passage of the Martyr Warrior with the song of the gocius and other religious songs.
(Unioneonline / lf)