The Ferrara Buskers Festival, as it has become today, does not work. What has emerged in recent days from numerous observations and the widespread general discontent in the city for this edition of the Buskers deserves a reflection, necessary and heartfelt, also from the Municipal Administration that I represent.
We are talking about an event that, over forty years, has become a significant appointment, a symbol of summer in Ferrara itself. Over time it has built its own identity and a consolidated participation precisely thanks to its characteristic of being a spontaneous, free, and accessible initiative for everyone.
A cultural and tourist event, which the Municipality of Ferrara has always supported. Financial support that has never been lacking, and in fact has almost doubled compared to 10 years ago, reaching with this Administration 110,000 euros for this edition. This money adds up to other public supports, which together cover about 70% of the event’s budget.
We have never wanted to influence the artistic choices of the organizers. It is a principle we deeply believe in and apply to every event in Ferrara: those who organize culture must be able to do so with maximum autonomy and freedom.
During the many working tables carried out in recent months together with the Bottoni family, municipal offices, and trade associations, we have repeatedly raised our doubts about the new formula, particularly about the choice to close part of the historic center making access paid.
We have accommodated the organizers’ needs, out of respect for the autonomy mentioned above. Autonomy, however, cannot mean avoiding confrontation on the results, especially when an event benefits from significant public financial support. After two years of experimentation, we can no longer do so: the Ferrara Buskers Festival, in this formula, does not work.
Turning the heart of the city into a closed area did not meet expectations and did not even allow recovering an adequate public presence.
We are told this by merchants, by citizens, visitors, and even the same street artists, who in these days have made heartfelt appeals to the organization so that the Festival returns to being what it has always been: a great popular, open, and free celebration, capable of spontaneously filling the streets and squares of our city.
We care about the future of the Ferrara Buskers Festival. Forty years of history represent a heritage that deserves to be protected. Protecting it today also means having the ability to recognize that it is necessary to change the way the event is proposed.
For this reason, we ask the organization of the Ferrara Buskers Festival to deeply review, already in view of the next edition, which will celebrate the 40th year of the event, the access methods.
This does not mean going back. It means recovering what made the Buskers Festival unique: an open city, thousands of people free to cross it, artists meeting the public without barriers, and a historic center that is lively, participatory, and accessible to all. It means understanding everyone’s effort, but also listening to the community and finding together a solution to return to achieving important results, also respecting the beauty of our UNESCO city.
The Ferrara Buskers Festival is a heritage of the city and we want it to continue to be so. But precisely for this reason, we must have the courage to recognize when a formula does not work and change it.
* Culture Councillor of the Municipality of Ferrara
