Milano: Andrea Loreni's spectacular tightrope crossing between the skyscrapers of Milano

Milano: Andrea Loreni's spectacular tightrope crossing between the skyscrapers of Milano.

After the great success of the first edition, the spectacular appointment with returns from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th May BAM Circus – The Festival of Wonders in the Park, conceived and directed by Francesca Colombo, General Cultural Director of BAM, Riccardo Catella Foundation. A journey full of wonder and amazement, capable of transporting adults and children into an imaginative dreamlike journey that ignites dreams, creativity and emotions. A project created thanks to a team of cultural managers who take care of every aspect of the BAM program from conception to implementation, from sourcing resources to communication.

A unique international festival of its kind, free and open to all, which for three days brings street theater and contemporary circus arts to the city, developed around the concept of Wonder to welcome it into the city and within us: a way to stay together in close connection with Nature in the large botanical garden of BAM.

Starting from the elements of air and earth, in constant dialogue with the figure of the human being and his eternal search aimed at overcoming his own limits, the entire BAM Circus program aims to enhance the concepts of verticality, air, gravity and equilibrium. This year's edition also recalls important cultural references, with a show dedicated to the 80th anniversary of "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a new performance inspired by the 100th anniversary of the birth of Italo Calvino and the homage to White Clown, to Fellini and the Clouds.

The 2023 edition of BAM Circus will open on Friday 26 May from 20pm to 00pm, with an exceptional event that will keep everyone in suspense: Andrea Loreni, the only Italian tightrope walker specialized in performances at great heights, will in fact undertake the first tightrope crossing carried out in Milano, walking at about 140 meters high along a 205-meter path, from the iconic and award-winning Bosco Verticale to the UniCredit Tower, the tallest building in Italy, symbols of Portanuova – an innovative neighborhood and the first in the world to have obtained the double LEED® and WELL® for Community sustainability certification – which frame the BAM park offering the public an iconic vision of the Milano contemporary. An extraordinary feat that follows the one by Philippe Petit in 1974 between the Twin Towers in New York. Making this moment even more unique and exciting will be a real musical experience accompanying the performance commissioned by BAM and created by Cesare Picco, composer and pianist, who will musically interpret the crossing by creating a live soundtrack that will leave room for improvisation. The spectacular crossing will be visible from every point in the park. Step by step, you can also follow it “up close” in streaming on the Vela in Piazza Gae Aulenti in Portanuova and on LED walls positioned in two other points of the park – in the Carpini area and in the De Castillia garden – as well as on the BAM website www.bam.milano.it. For the green community of BAMFRIEND who support BAM – Biblioteca degli Alberi all year round, one of the benefits is access to an exclusive reserved area in the Carpini area.

How many extraordinary forms can Wonder, the common thread of the entire Festival, take on? A sublime leap, which destroys the boundary between us and others; a pair of wide eyes, teeming with the future; the rainbow in the sky, the meadow that caresses your feet, the wisdom of a knot on the bark of a tree, and much more. This kaleidoscope of emotions is imagined by a very special manifesto, the Manifesto of Wonders specifically written and conceived for the public of BAM Circus, who is invited to share its suggestions and sign it on the BAM website, to link.

After the opening evening, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 May, the Festival will come alive with a great variety of events: theatrical shows and evocative performances by Italian and international companies, workshops dedicated to adults and children, clown performances, talks, artistic forays and scenographic performances and, for the first time, an unprecedented collaboration, a bridge between Milano and Palermo.