A fairytale and lively atmosphere will envelop the streets and squares of the historic centre, transforming it into a large amusement park for all ages. This is how Spezia is preparing to experience the magic of the holidays, with ‘Spezia Christmas‘: an initiative which, in the three weekends of December preceding Christmas, will transform the three main city squares into meeting places, fun and tradition. The initiative was presented by the mayor of La Spezia, Pierluigi Peracchini, by the councilor for Commerce Alberto Giarelli and by Leonardo Pischedda and Eleonora Rossi of ‘Artificio 23‘, the company that together with the Municipality thought up the organisation. A program full of events from the three days of 6, 7 and 8 December: from morning to evening Piazza Garibaldi and Largo Caffarata will be animated, respectively, by the old wooden games of ‘L’arte del gioco’ and by Il CiclOtto – Sustainable carousel, fairy tales and soap bubbles, Michele Fortunato’s pedal carousel. In Piazza del Bastione from the afternoon, dance lessons open to all will be offered: salsa and bachata on 6 December, organized by the dance school La Maison de la Danse; of hip hop on the 7th, organized by the Street City Project dance school; and tango and milonga, organized by the Planet Dance Akademy Ballomania dance school, on 8 December. For the days of 13 and 14 December, two proposals in Piazza Garibaldi: ‘Officina Clandestina – Amusement park in recycled wood’ with peaches, aiming games, stilts and traditional board games for a wooden games area recovered from tradition; and ‘Air Games – Giant Kites by Erewhon Teatro’ to fly kites of different shapes, colors and sizes in the sky. ‘RiCiclo – Pedal Carousel by Lucio Schippa’, will be the curious eco-carousel of 8 little horses pushed by the carousel on a bicycle that will fill Largo Caffarata on both days.
The afternoon in Piazza del Bastione again… dance steps: Lindy Hop on the 13th, by Spezia Lindy Hoppers Aps; bachata, dances and cha cha cha on the 14th, organized by the Asd Royal Dance Liguria dance school. In the third weekend of December, it will be the turn of ‘Caimercati – Artisan games, Chinese shadows and vintage wardrobes’ and ‘Play area And-Giochi della carpentry Differently Mobili with Claudia Rifaldi’ (a carpentry workshop for the professional training of children with disabilities) set up in Piazza Garibaldi. The French company Théâtre de la Toupine will bring its musical and ‘bucolic’ carousel ‘Vache de Manège’ to Largo Caffarata; in Piazza del Bastione free dance lessons (charleston, organized by Spezia Lindy Hoppers APS on 20 December and hip hop, afro hip hop and street modern jazz, organized by the Centro Danza Dancing Project, in the afternoon of 21 December). Furthermore, on the afternoon of December 20th, the city streets will resonate thanks to ‘The Circa Tsuïca Fanfare’: a brass fanfare from the French company Circa Tsuïca that will invade the streets with its overwhelming music and acrobatics.
Alma Martina Poggi
