A controversy erupted over a concert that, in fact, never existed. Or rather, it never became official. This is the paradox of the dispute between Oristano and Cabras that arose over Serena Brancale's performance at Torregrande on September 19th, and which quickly dissipated.
The scandal was sparked by a leak from the Oristano city council: Brancale was listed as the star of one of the two events assigned by the municipality to a promoter. But that date raises a significant question: the artist is expected in Taormina on September 19th. How she was chosen for Torregrande remains unclear.
As if the institutional gaffe weren't enough, the controversy with Cabras also arose. Oristano Mayor Massimiliano Sanna called Andrea Abis's decision "a storm in a teacup." Brancale, he explained, was "one of those who were discussed and finalized in principle," pending the contract. Whoever leaked the news was "hasty and reckless, to say the least": "a simple phone call" would have been enough to avoid "this blunder."
The controversy began with Abis's social media outburst: September 19th, he noted, falls during the three-day Bottarga Festival, the dates of which had been known "since mid-June." Hence the request that the two municipalities adopt "the planning method," avoiding "diseconomies" and the waste of resources.
Sanna "fully agrees with the need for more programming," but notes that in the past, Cabras has scheduled events to coincide with Santa Croce, Oristano's festival. He cites the case of The Kolors, when Oristano moved the concert date to avoid clashes, "out of a sense of responsibility and respect." His conclusion is a jab: discussion requires "first and foremost verifying the information and talking to each other before turning a news item in the press into a political issue."
In the end, the concert didn't happen, nor did the coincidence. But the controversy did: it erupted around an event that wasn't yet official and had already faded.
