Success for the 2018 edition of “I Love Francigena” in Emilia-Romagna. The event-trip along the Emilian stretch of Sigeric’s route sold out.
Dozens of passionate walkers took part in the initiative organised by the European Association of Via Francigena Ways (EAVF), in collaboration with APT Emilia-Romagna, and with the technical support of ItinerAria S.r.l. and Associazione Fiorenzuola in Movimento.
On the 8th and 15th of September, the “I Love Francigena” group walked slowly along two legs of the route in the provinces of Parma and Piacenza: Fidenza – Medesano and Fiorenzuola d’Arda – Fidenza for an average of 22km. Between small stops and a landscape to photograph, the first day of “I love Francigena” ended in Medesano with the buffet and the welcome greeting from the community, represented by the deputy mayor, Michele Giovanelli.
On 15th September, “I love Francigena” visited the Piacenza leg from Fiorenzuola d’Arda to Fidenza, starting from the Collegiate Church dedicated to San Fiorenzo di Tours. The Francigena walk was enriched by the precious contribution of Associazione Fiorenzuola in Movimento and ended with refreshments and a greeting from the Councillor for Culture of the municipality of Fidenza, Maria Pia Bariggi.
The participants, coming from all over Italy and even from Australia, loved the experience, sharing the aims of the project conceived by the EAVF. “I love Francigena” was born to promote and develop the European path, with help from walkers.
“I Love Francigena is an exclusive format of the EAVF that involves communities, administrators and local associations to develop the Via Francigena with specific attention on the environment – underlines the EAVF President, Massimo Tedeschi – After the success in Lombardy, this year in collaboration with the APT Emilia-Romagna, we have organised some walking-events in the province of Parma and Piacenza, with great success. We are very satisfied by these results, which confirm that “I Love Francigena” is a winning initiative with international potential, exportable in all the territories crossed by the Via.”
The two days of walking from Fidenza to Medesano and from Fiorenzuola d’Arda to Fidenza were narrated through a social media campaign with #ilovefrancigena #viafrancigena and #emiliaromagnaslow on the institutional sites. An exciting experience, the result of teamwork that looks forward to the next editions.
Watch the videos: I Love Francigena September 15th and September 8th
