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The magical Festival is back in
Palermo from 5th to 18th May, among windsurfs and high-speed sailing boats,
beach volley and big events: it’s the
World Festival On The Beach.
More sport, more music
in a surprise program: this is the formula that has conferred the success
upon the Windsurf World Festival, now at its 18th edition, by
combining high level sport events and shows in the natural and historical
milieu of Sicily.
The scenery of
Palermo’s valley and its cradle, Mondello, are the expression of Sicilian
essence at its best and the ideal stage where punctually each year the
Windsurf World Festival occurs.
The 18th
edition of the World Festival On The Beach was
already introduced last December in occasion of the Mistral Olympic
Class World Championship at Pattaya, Thailand, and will open its doors once
again to 2003, starting from 13th to 18th of May with
the other events of the festival. Each year more and more tourists are
attracted to Mondello by an involving event richer than ever, which
anticipates the summer season and brings, night and day, thousands of people
in the fascinating valley of Palermo.
The big Sicilian party
achieved once again the success of the Windsurf World Festival by
getting back the magical mix of the month of May in Mondello, and
turned the seaside resort into a village unique in its kind.
Organised by Albaria
Club, the Festival has taken advantage of its long tradition which brought
it up to the top of worldwide renown in the context of windsurf, sailing and
beach volley, still reserving big surprises such as the New Jazz Festival.
This year the event
has been renamed “World Festival On The Beach”, because of the quantity and
quality of different happenings next to
historical windsurf competitions.
The great sportive
happenings are back and the characteristic climate of a tourist village is
still there and will change once again Mondello’s face, where the sea, the
beach and the audience will play the main part.
The Scenery
It wasn’t Albaria’s nor the Festival’s mission to let the whole world know
about the beauty of such a suggestive spot. But after some years, when the
media got interested – TV and magazines – unavoidably Mondello’s Club had to
update some articles of its statute: to respect, popularise and declare the
real essence of Sicily in the best way.
In the following years
love declarations have been raining on Palermo, for its wonders and the
tropical splendour of Mondello beach, for the significant richness spread
around Sicily which often is not well considered.
Although it remains a
moment of pure evasion, healthy fun and cultural enrichment, the Windsurf
World Festival has become the Italian Ambassador in the world of a reality
that just asks to be experienced.
The Windsurf World
Festival never promised anything and never exaggerated in anything. It
simply limited itself to the course of the events, letting the images and
the emotions of people speak.
Mondello
Mondello lies along the arch of a picturesque bay, between Mount Pellegrino
and Mount Gallo, and is the most important seaside resort near Palermo.
In the last ten years
it has been part of an extraordinary tourist development, with excellent
hotels and a big choice of restaurants and amusements.
The particularly
temperate climate also in winter time allows Mondello to be a very popular
vacation spot.
The very north end of
the bay is a fishing village lying at the
feet of the rocky M. Gallo with its impervious slopes and from where a strip
of land stretches out holding the Tower of Mondello, the Saracen tower of
an old Castle standing out from the area along the promenade.
Very few kilometres
south of Mondello is Palermo, nowadays connected with its outskirts, and
situated from the middle to the edges of the celebrated Conca d’Oro,
surrounded of a magnificent crown of majestic mountains.
Palermo, with its
uncountable monuments and extremely rich arts, represents no less than four
historical ages: Arab-Norman architecture, artistic expressions of Middle
Age to Renaissance, gorgeous expressions of rococo art of 16th
and 17th century and decorative inspirations of a crowded group
of artists of the 18th Century.
The trace of man and
of its creative presence appears in the outskirts of Palermo, since the last
period of primitive life – Superior Palaeolithic. Homo Sapiens reveals the
marks of its existence on Mount Pellegrino, in the caves which leave behind
the coastal suburb of Addaura.
The Village
Valdesi Square strictly becomes a pedestrian zone
surrounded by its well-cared gardens and opens the gates of Mondello
and its festival among palm trees and colourful flowers.
The sea is just a few
steps away, across the street, over the beach. All the rest has been
designed in the way to respect what nature has given, but at the same time,
to be useful for the multitudes in the best way.
Elegant, comfortable,
lively and full of colours, but most important of all, without limits: this
is the Village, the beating heart of all events of the Beach Festival, the
entrance of Mondello with its beach and its main square.
Hundreds of thousands
of visitors have populated its square and experienced the feeling of being
at home…
Dominated by Villa
Gregorietti, part of the Village is designed 7-8 months earlier to face the
needs of each event which take place every year – the rest is given by nothing else but Mondello.
The Village of the
Festival is just in front of the sea and turns out to be one only footpath
with the beach – the arena of the beach volley, sailing competitions and of
the promenades.
The big stage
dominates the elegant open air drawing room where everyday people animate
the scene and give life to the festival. A great wooden pyramid made by
Marco Lanzafame is located at the edge of the
area and determines the virtual entrance to the Village. Just virtual,
because the Village has no fences: anyone can freely access, no tickets to
pay, no invitations to show, no line to queue up in. It’s an open air space,
to enjoy as citizens – at least for some days – part of the world of sports,
music and fun.
The idea is the one
of a drawing room of the town. Plants and flowers are everywhere, as a
result of the support of the Department for Gardens and Villas of the Town
Council of Palermo, and other areas assigned for sport and music activities
are made of valuable wood. The feeling is that nothing has been prepared; it
has always been there and will continue to stay. And somehow it is so,
because a real part of the scene is given by
Nature.
Grateful for the
cooperation of Institutions and Security Forces of the Municipal Police,
Mondello’s viability doesn’t suffer any problem, as alternative
routes are planned to avoid the
inconvenience of roads being closed to
traffic, therefore all areas of Mondello will be normally reached by the
usual secondary streets. The big stage completes the look, where every night
excellent musicians, singers, dances and show girls take their place, while
a second sitting room is reserved for TV operators, as they have proper
areas at their disposal.
At sunrise while the
diligent employees of the organization help
the very efficient team of AMIA (Environmental Sanitation Company of the
Council of Palermo) in removing the inevitable rubbish from the night
before, you can already see technicians testing sound, athletes warming up
for the competitions together with the early visitors wandering around with
one purpose: not to miss a single moment of the new day at the World
Festival On the Beach… in Mondello.
Festival People
Members of the organization, workers, athletes, judges of the races,
security teams, TV technicians, the concert audience, the general public
artists, curious people… These are the Festival People, a show within a
show.
By night so jammed you
can’t even move or walk around inside the
Village. But just a few steps towards the beach will bring the fragrances of
the sea and its paradise.
On the stage great
musicians playing jazz turn into dance music without a gap, with famous
singers, actors, VIPs and Olympic athletes strolling around. A kaleidoscope
of faces, a wheel of visages – more or less known – a human collection at
all levels. This is what turns the Village into Babel. You start by noticing
the people working at their services all busy doing something and strictly
fitted up with their t-shirts with the outstanding logo of the Windsurf
World Festival.
The active climate
becomes frantic as soon you get closer to the splendid villa Gregorietti, a
masterpiece of Liberty Style among many other examples in Mondello. Anyway
what surprises is the unique air you breath, hard to find in any other
sport or musical festival.
A kind of
unconventional professionalism involves you from
the first moment.
For example you could
find high-tech equipment for digital video… in a kitchen. Or the press room
super equipped full of computers… in the garden an ancient amphora just next
to the compendium of hydrodynamics and technology of a skiff. You could find
a reception area for athletes with ten people yelling into their ten mobile
phones in ten different languages. And then the catering staff, the TV
technicians from all over the world, a bunch
of journalists. You might meet the famous musician waving a friendly “hello”
to you or the world champion offering you his dish of spaghetti, or the top
model (but this happens everywhere) who is not thinking of you… They are the
Festival People, great passionate people at the service of a common project
who every year for 18 years, keep their promise: “we’ll give you fun”.
A real team of
valuable professionals supported by a pacific army of energetic volunteers
guided by a staff, supported by active Sponsors.
This is all the
success of Windsurf World Festival. These are the friends of the Festival.
Extraordinary people… to take part in this
event is to believe in it. To take part in this event is to give your
support.
Jazz and Music, the
soundtrack of Windsurf World Festival
Music shows are a historical part of Windsurf World Festival. Every year the
people of the night are eager to applaud from the seaside artists’
performances. In the last edition, besides the guests in vogue in the hits
of the moment, it was the Jazz Festival to be the novelty of the year with
the stars of contemporary jazz. It’s not the
first time that Albaria lets music to be the crown of the event which every
year transforms Mondello into an international audience: pop, rock and
modern music have made of the beautiful beach a colourful music village.
Nevertheless, since jazz is deeply rooted in the hearts of managers and
members of Albaria the Jazz Festival arranged by the stage manager Nick the
Nightfly is a special dedication, rich and impressive, because of its
presupposition laying at the basis of the idea: as a result of the support
of Regional Assessorship of Cultural Welfare it will be a yearly
appointment which will offer the largest panoramic view
of the new trends of jazz and give new inspiration to the language
of jazz for a continuous renovation.
(Sports)
Besides the historical
windsurf competition and the success of the past
years, the spectacular “Australian 18 footer” are back
in Sicily to compete for a goal of the Skiff Pro Tour World Cup. These are
very fast boats and very popular in the southern seas, where they have
become so modern that they are now the most spectacular boats able to
face a competition. Over 6 meters long, they have a crew
of 3 people which take advantage of the lateral terraces big as wings
keeping this castle of sails flying in a constant glide.
Talking about
windsurfing, besides the individual competition of Sicily Grand Prix, a
“National Cup” is planned after the Mistral European Championship, a sort of
“America’s Cup” for windsurfers.
The Beach Volley is up
to its 10th edition, directed by Ario De Giovanni and arranged
with Polisportiva Futura. Last year it represented the first important
appointment in Italy of the international opening tour of the “Adecco Cup”
Beach Volley Italian Championship, won by Fabio Galli.
Eight of the world’s
best players have competed for the absolute title in the category of men and
women. In 2001 Fabio Galli lined up the European champion Sacha Heyer, the
multi-prized Dionisio Lequaglie, the Austrian Bob Nowotny and all Italian
and international outstanding players who tried to compete for the title of
“King of The Beach”.
Neither in edition
2002 the European champion Sacha Heyer could obtain the crown of the King of
the Beach of Mondello; instead it went to the “zar” Sergey Sayfulin with
only two points higher in the hit. Dionisio Lequaglie was third, and the
Greek George Giatsis was fourth.
Besides the King of
The Beach, also women figure with a crowd of high-tech athletes. Most of all
two Italians, Lucilla Perrotta and Daniela Gattelli have dominated during
last year competitions getting fair after nine matches with Roberta Marini
and the Brazilian Claudia Costa Oliveira and finally Lucilla got the title
of Queen in the deciding match.
This spectacular
competition takes place also by night by special request of
the players and the audience: a suggestive scenery created by the
lights and the music of jazz.
Sailing, Beach Volley,
kite surfing and the surprise shows will be once more the winning formula of
the great tourist village. Its goals will be to guarantee the entertainment
of a holiday village, unique in its non-stop
sequence of animation and sports.
All of this is
arranged by Albaria and its Staff. A team which has coordinated and
accomplished for 17 years one of the most significant events of the planet.
As a responsible of
the development for uncountable side events, Albaria organises the Windsurf
World Festival taking care also of its image in all aspects, such as the
direct marketing which is supported by prestigious companies above and below
the line, with a colourful and efficient advertising campaign; the editorial
office, keeping contact with the artists and athletes; the Web information;
and at last but not least, the relationship with the media partners, which
allows the Festival to be followed on TV all over
the world.
Windsurf World
Festival 2003 has established the guidelines worldwide, a party of sports
and shows you can’t refuse: it will take place again from 5th to
18th May 2003 and open once again the doors to a fantastic and
exciting tour of amusement.
Windsurf Classe Olimpica Mistral: Campionati
Europei Assoluti
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