Marche: “The Words of the Mountain”, a Festival for those who want to reach the High Lands.

Marche: “The Words of the Mountain”, a Festival for those who want to reach the High Lands.

La Mountains has always been privileged place for the search for the sacred, symbol of perenniality and transcendence. With its verticality and dizzying height, with its proximity to the sky and inaccessibility, the mountain, in fact, since the most ancient cultures, has been considered a bridge between the visible and the invisible, home of the gods, the path by which Man can rise to divinity and divinity reveal itself to man (think of Kailash, Olympus, Mount Sinai, Horeb and so on).
For the Man listening to himself, the mountain is an antidote to horizontality, to crowding, to speed, which is contrasted with slowness, solitude, fatigue, essentiality. Those who set out towards the summit, to live a personal experience, look for a contact with values ​​and meanings who speak a non-standardized language, but a personal and transcendent one.

Su this philosophy, 14 years ago, was born on The Words of the Mountain Festival, a container for mountaineering, philosophy, poetry, art, cinema, literature and entertainment events, with guests of the highest cultural caliber and refined reflections for those who don't stop on the plains and want to reach the High Lands.

Il added value of the Festival è the atmosphere that is created, made up of relationships and a lot of beauty, thanks to the place where it is set, Smerillo, a very small medieval village, under the Sibillini Mountains, in the province of Fermo, perched on a rocky ridge, where there is really nothing and where, it seems incredible , but you can't even buy bread. Everything is small in Smerillo. The spaces are small; the number of inhabitants is very small; The commercial appeal of the Borgo is small, indeed non-existent. But the 360° panoramas are great ranging from the sea to the mountains; great is the light that illuminates the top of the rocky ridge on which the medieval village is perched; the colors and smells of the alternating seasons are great; great are the emotions offered by a place so reduced to the essentials. Optimal condition, for those who want to get involved.

They have understood the organizers of the Le Parole della Montagna Festival, a group of eager friends di making and sharing culture, who have chosen, against all commercial logic, their own to talk about the sacredness of the mountain Smerillo, so far from worldly events, but so authentic, where between one conference and another an aperitif or a hot barley is offered in the late evening, just to create conviviality, encourage the birth of new friendships and allow the exchange of ideas; where is the cultural debate in which all spectators participate heartily I also live off stage, thanks to a personal discussion with the speakers, who very often spend the entire duration of the festival, thus demonstrating that they share a project, rather than merely carrying out a job. Same environment which we also find in the small villages of Monteleone di Fermo and Monte San Martino, involved in the Festival's events, for a relaunch of culture, after the forced interruption due to the pandemic, right from the small villages.
La protagonist of the entire event is a Parola, suggested every year by the mountain, around which the entire rich and intense program revolves.

Lo last year, the word "to get lost” he had developed numerous reflections and above all hopes. Getting out of the economic, personal and social crisis is possible, but how?
The Mountains, once again, ad offer new food for thought, through the password "cordata”. A word borrowed from mountaineering practice, which has the taste of fatigue, of climbing and represents that group of individuals who climb the mountain tied together by a rope, the first of whom advances until he secures the rope to the protective hook he finds on the wall, while the second guarantees his safety in the event of a fall.
For the safety system to work, the rope must be taut and the climbers must proceed at the right distance, coordinating their movements, respecting each other's rhythm and activating effective communication between them, to the detriment of speed. Here then is the word takes on symbolic meanings. Participating in a consortium requires trust in the other, to whom we entrust our safety, responsibility towards the other linked to you, respect for the times and limits of others, mutual care and attention, a solid bond, the right distance and harmony.
La Mountains it then suggests to us that the walk to travel is not of the individual, but of the group united by a common strength. Perhaps we can save ourselves if we start to feel responsible towards each other and if, while respecting due distance, we put the bond, the relationship at the centre.
With great names in culture, art, mountaineering and sport, the Festival is preparing to discuss the roped party as a metaphor for social life.

"This Festival – comments the Councilor for Culture of the Marche Region, Chiara Biondi – represents a signal in harmony with the policies that the Region is implementing. Imagining and creating a literary event in a small town in the Apennines means betting on the internal and mountain areas, attributing a specific value to them. The small villages of the Marche have characteristics that are part of our identity. They are an asset to invest in, a resource with a lot of potential to express. We are also in tune with the theme of the consortium. The museum networks we are creating and promoting are, similarly, an alliance with the aim of reaching higher together".

Ad open the event, 13th July, it was as always the art. With a live performances artist Giuliano del Sorbo, the work of art will become a unique and unrepeatable moment, experienced in the moment, to transform the human figure into a metaphor of the meeting between peoples. We continue with the prof. Stefano Bartezzaghi, an expert in semiotics and words, as well as a puzzler, who will explain to us how words string together and intersect with each other. For the mountaineering event, with the wise moderation of Andrea Bianchi, Alex Txikon returns returning from the great winter undertaking on Manaslu, together with Tamara Lunger, his climbing partner in the historic winter climb on Nanga Parbat, to tell of their feat on the rooftops of the world, tied to each other.

Friday July 14th it will be the turn of the photographer Matthias Canapini to tell the community walks on the migrant routes. For science, the biologist Paola Bonfante and the ethologist Elisabetta Pelagi will explain how plants and animals also build their own social world. The philosopher Simonetta Tassinari will instead deal with the plastic form of friendship, perfect friends and true ones.

And the confidence? AND fundamental, in climbing as well as in everyday life, especially if you work in a circus and are the human target of a knife thrower. A breathtaking show designed for Friday evening with the exciting performances by the Takimiri Circus accompanied by poems by Davide Rondoni.

Always the Festival è moment of commitment and reflection, the Dianova Community of Montefiore dell'Aso will talk about the importance of reciprocity and sharing. The dialogue will continue with Felice Cimatti and Donatella Pagliacci for an analysis of the relationships between gatherings and the right distance.
La spirituality, which has always had a place of honor at the Festival, is entrusted to thought of Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, which will be discussed by sister Francesca and journalist Luigi Maffezzoli, as well as Enzo Bianchi who will open up to the dimension of dialogue and the vocation to coexistence. Which metaphor better than roped if not an orchestra? The Saturday evening she will be cheered by the I Sinfonici Orchestra, who will perform in a concert full of emotions.

Sunday 16th of, Smerillo becomes literary salon with the writers Giulia Ciarapica and Fabio Bacà who will address the theme of family ties, and then open to Cesare Catà's lecture-show on the Fellowship of the Rings, a praise of friendship. In Italy however the Sunday mean football and Franco Causio, historic 1982 World Cup champion, will introduce us to the dynamics of team play, an expression of bonding and harmony.

On July 21st in Monteleone di Fermo, it will be Umberto Galimberti who will reflect on the responsibility towards the othernecessary in social relationships. The festival will end in Monte San Martino on July 23rd, with an eagerly awaited appointment featuring the psychologist Alberto Pellai, for a reflection on love, an indispensable consortium in the couple and in the parent-child relationship.
There will be no shortage of experiential workshops, a poetic agora with the best contemporary poets, the children's festival with a theatrical performance in the Smerillo woods and themed excursions.