“Piante e animali perduti”: on 24 and 25 September 2022 in Guastalla (RE) the XXV Edition

In Guastalla (Reggio Emilia), a town on the river Po that retains the charm of a small Gonzaga capital, in September the appointment with the 25th edition of Lost Plants and Animals an exhibition-market organized by Arvales Fratres – Vitaliano Biondi by the Guastallese Twinning Association and Events with the patronage of the Municipality of Guastalla, which aims precisely at the enhancement and rediscovery of the horticultural, herbal and animal heritage of the territory, which has been lost or forgotten.
On 24 and 25 September hundreds of qualified exhibitors from all over Italy will exhibit their botanical collections in the historic center of Guastalla: roses, orchids, echinacea, asters, dahlias, maples, amaranths, water lilies together with perennial herbaceous, aquatic, carnivorous, tillandsias , aromatic plants and rare plants, suitable for expert gardeners and also for those who are animated by simple curiosity.
And yet there is no shortage of fruit trees and ancient fruits with unique flavors such as jujube, fogarina grapes, plum zucchini from Lentigione, Campanino apple, crassana raisin pears. Furthermore, apples and pears of all shapes, colors and origins make the pomological exhibitions of hundreds of forgotten fruits of the territory unique, presented by specialized companies and agricultural institutes.

The Guastallese festival in addition to numerous botanical wonders, the seeds and vegetables market is also an exhibition of garden furniture, crafts, local breeds of domestic and farm animals, as well as agri-food specialties and typical and organic products, accompanied by in-depth meetings , workshops and much more.

The question concerning the protection and conservation of one’s environment, one’s roots and one’s culture does not only affect contemporaneity.
Sixty years ago Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975), in an indictment against the dehumanizing effects of wild urbanization, declared: “When the classical world will be exhausted, when all peasants and artisans will be dead, when there will be no more fireflies, bees, butterflies, when industry has made the cycle of production unstoppable, then our story will be over ”.
Precisely on the centenary of the birth of the famous writer, Guastalla chooses to inaugurate the 25th event of Lost Plants and Animals with a conversation entitled “The return of the fireflies”, a dedication to Pasolini, a man, artist and intellectual who contributed in a fundamental way to the culture of the twentieth century.

The program, events and initiatives

Alongside the exhibition-market, the two days include interventions that address, from different points of view and in an openly multidisciplinary perspective, the evolution of the culture of greenery, of the relationship between man and plants and of the protection of plant and animal biodiversity and of ‘environment. The master gardener Carlo Pagani, a great expert in plants and host of important television broadcasts, will tell the wonders of the rose, presenting it in all its facets: from collections to cultivation techniques.

Saturday 24 September (9.30 – 13.30) at Palazzo Ducale (via Gonzaga) the 19th conference entitled “Border Races” will be held by the Rare Association (Native breeds at risk of extinction), the first Italian association that deals with conservation and enhancement of autochthonous breeds at risk of extinction, while in the afternoon in the Sala del Camino there will be “Sol per sfogare il core”, a conversation around the gardens by the architect Vitaliano Biondi with Francesca Marzotto Caotorta, famous landscape architect, journalist and creator of important events on the green, Carla Benocci, well-known scholar of the history of art, gardens and architecture and many other guests. (Participation in the meeting entitles you to training credits for architects, agronomists, engineers and surveyors).

The planned interventions also concern folk medicine with the story of Gabrina degli Albeti, a healer from Reggio Emilia tried for witchcraft in July 1375 and sentenced to cutting her tongue, herbal therapies, ancient grains, up to school gardens. In this regard, in Piazza Mazzini, the Garden of the Simple is set up, where, as in the Middle Ages, food and medicinal plants are grown, by the nurseryman Enzo Maioli, with the aim of encouraging the creation of school gardens in schools. Creating a vegetable garden is an experience of fundamental importance to understand the phenomena related to the web of life, the flow of energy and the cycles of nature, but above all to learn a lifestyle that is not “linear” but “cyclical” : everything has its season and its moment, the planet is limited and not everything can grow in it at the same time.

At Piante e Animali Perduti an in-depth study on a botanical theme of great interest is also planned: the willows that decorate the course of the Po river. A symposium will be organized by Giovanni Claudio Zuffo and Mirco Pederzini which will culminate in the creation of a single , large, shared basket.

To bring the little ones closer to contact with nature and sensitize them in protecting the environment in Guastalla there is no shortage of initiatives for children and families ranging from educational and creative workshops to ancient games, from the insect farm with Daniele Cavadini to activities with donkeys curated by Massimo Montanari, the most famous donkey in Italy, in collaboration with Marino Alessandri. Also behind the Doge’s Palace a real farm welcomes to the delight of large and small roosters, hens, geese, goats, sheep, rabbits and cows of ancient breeds, and the Giant’s lupine.

Informationd

25th EDITION OF “PIANTE E ANIMALI PERDUTI”

GUASTALLA – REGGIO EMILIA

pianteanimaliperduti.it

Facebook: Piante Animali Perduti Guastalla 
Instagram: piante_animali_perduti

SATURDAY 24, SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
OPENING HOURS 08.00 – 20.00

ENTRANCE TICKET: € 5 
Ingresso gratuito: residenti nel Comune di Guastalla, ragazzi inferiori ai 15 anni, militari e forze dell’ordine, persone con disabilità con accompagnatore.

 

ASSOCIAZIONE GUASTALLESE GEMELLAGGI ED EVENTI 

Mail: papguastalla@gmail.com   
tel. +39 331 1260099 

COMUNE DI GUASTALLA UIT
Informazione e Accoglienza Turistica
tel. 0522 839763
mail: uit@comune.guastalla.re.it

CAMPERISTS: sosta 44°55’27.65″N 10°39’10.95″E(4) AA Via U.Foscolo. Camper service, WC Wash, electricity 3 euros x 12 hours for 6 campers, cycle path, lighting, partially shaded with free chilled water dispenser.