Robert writes: This is a great week for Tolkien fans in Italy. Indeed, two very interesting events are occurring these days.
The first is called Verso la Contea (Towards the Shire) and is happening at Trani between 10 and 13 of july, in the charming set of the Colonna Monastery. “It will become the Hobbiton of the south of Italy”, said Oronzo Cilly, promoter of the happening and Italian Tolkien Society Foreign Events Organiser, referring to the most important event happening every year in Udine and promoted by the Italian Tolkien Society. Verso la Contea is going to host a great exhibition with a hundred works (between original paintings and copies) and a hundred objects connected with Tolkien’s world and with the movies. There will be many meetings, with the presence of the Italian Tolkien Society president Paolo Paron, representatives of the english and french Tolkien Societies, two people (Francesco Vairano and Pino Insegno) involved in the dubbing of the movie and a manager from Medusa (the company which gets the rights for the movie here), who will announce officially that ROTK will be released in december in our country. Moreover, it will be introduced the great event of Bruxelles 2004 (which could be the most important one occurring in Europe next year), created by the Italian Tolkien Society with the support of the english one. Last but not least, many diplomatics and politicians will join the celebration. Among them, the New Zealand ambassador in Italy Peter Bennett, the mayor of Trani Giuseppe Tarantini, the President of the Levante Fiera Luigi Lobuono, the President of the Puglia region Raffaele Fitto and the member of the european Parliament Roberto Bigliardo. You can read the full program (in italian) by clicking here: [More]
The second event, Festa Tolkieniana (Tolkienian Fest) will occur in Florence in Villa Favard Park between the 10th and the 12th of july. The first day will see an exhibition of european folklore realised by La Compagnia della Forca. The second day the audience might listen to some readings of Tolkien works, made by actors of the Terra di Prato group. On saturday, the event is ending with a show of traditional dances. The program is available here: [More]
