Bologna, July 27, 2026 – Bologna returns to the square for the 46th anniversary of the massacre at the station on **August 2** 1980. The program for Sunday is dense and rich, despite the city still being “wounded,” using the words of **mayor Matteo Lepore**, for the death of **Abderrahim Fakir al Pilastro**. But “every time Bologna is wounded, it finds itself manifesting democratically and non-violently in the square,” and so it will be this year too. The poster features an enormous panel, like those indicating train arrival and departure times, with a marked time: 10:24, of course. And a large, evocative yellow inscription: **“No coincidence”**.
The program for August 2
This year many relays (including cycling ones) will arrive before the anniversary celebrations: **from 6:30 AM to 8:30 AM the meeting point is between Montagnola park** and Piazza VIII Agosto. **From 8 AM to 1 PM**, instead, the stand in Piazza delle Medaglie d’Oro with a commemorative stamp, postal cancellation, and commemorative postcard for the 46th anniversary of the massacre. **At 8:30 AM** in the Courtyard of Honor of Palazzo d’Accursio, the mayor meets the victims’ families along with the authorities. In addition to Lepore’s, speeches are scheduled by Paolo Lambertini (president of the Association of Victims’ Families of the August 2, 1980 massacre), **governor Michele de Pascale, and Nicola Molteni, Undersecretary of the Interior**. **At 9:10 AM** in **Piazza Nettuno, the procession departs**, which will arrive at the station for the commemorative moment. At 10 AM, Lambertini will also speak in Piazza Medaglie d’Oro.
At **10:25 AM**, the triple whistle of the train and a minute of silence in memory of the victims. **At 10:50 AM** in the Waiting Room, the **laying of institutional wreaths with the authorities**, while other wreaths will subsequently be laid on the memorial stone commemorating the sacrifice of railway worker Silver Sirotti, who died in the Italicus train massacre. **At 11 AM**, the extraordinary train for San Benedetto Val di Sambro will depart from the first track, where wreaths will be laid on the plaques commemorating the victims of the Italicus and Rapido 904 Naples-Milan train attacks.
**At 11:15 AM**, in the church of San Benedetto, the mass celebrated by Archbishop Matteo Zuppi. **At 11:30 AM** at the Cotabo headquarters in Via Stalingrado, another commemorative moment in memory of the taxi drivers who died during the massacre, while at 4:30 PM at the Veronesi stadium in Casalecchio, a football quadrangular will take place between the teams of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, Cotabo, firefighters, and Fer (Ferrovie Emilia-Romagna). Finally, **at 9:15 PM**, in Piazza Maggiore, there will be the concert of the “August 2” International Composition Competition, directed by Maestro Marco Angius. The Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro Comunale will perform the three winning pieces of the XXXII edition: Jorge Coll Navarro – Exclamación de Santa Teresa; Teo Montero Rey – Confractione confringetur terra; Maichol Bondanelli – (Disvelo). **In the second part of the Concert**, after the awards ceremony, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 will be performed. The concert will be broadcast live on Rai 5 and Rai Radio 3. At the end, the screening of the docufilm “A mezzanotte pensami” – The rediscovered life of Vincenzo Petteni, victim of the Bologna massacre, conceived and produced by Paolo Bertazza and distributed by Mojo Produzioni, is scheduled.
The words of the Association of Victims’ Families
For Lambertini, “Bologna has always been there every year, and that’s what’s important,” even more so in the face of “truths that have become res judicata and are constantly under attack.” **“For example, on October 15, there will be a hearing to try**, once again, to rewrite history – points out the president of the Association of Victims’ Families -. There are those who continue to propose the Palestinian lead, despite years of sentences, documents, and wasted time. So, we need to demonstrate again, to rally around the truth to defend it. A truth that bothers some and opens scenarios for other investigations, which must be defended.” Lambertini also recalls how the route of the new procession, after the tram works and the pedestrianization of Via Indipendenza, resumes “the original route” and also how the cobblestones in memory of the victims, during the works and excavations, were moved, rearranged, and then repositioned where they were,” also solving the problem of keeping family members and relatives close.
The Mayor’s words
**“I invite as many citizens as possible to participate in the commemoration**: bring those who have never been, your friends and relatives, the young people who have recently arrived in Bologna to study – this is **Mayor Matteo Lepore’s appeal** -, because with the August 2nd demonstration, it is the citizens who teach what it means to demand truth and justice. This is demonstrated by the participation of ordinary people, who have taken to the streets for 46 years, in addition to many initiatives in schools. Memory in Bologna is participation and a demand for truth and justice, we have always asked for full clarity because this is Bologna’s method. We want to understand how to ensure that the torch passes from generation to generation and that all this remains over time. **This is our method and it is followed by many cities”**. The mayor then recalls how at the future **Memory Hub** that is being created in the former Scalo Ravone area, “there will be space for associations of victims’ families of massacres, including those of the mafia and the strategy of tension.” **“Not all massacres in our country have had final judgments**, in fact… – insists Lepore -. We are concerned that in this last year, parallel family associations have emerged alongside the historical ones. We are concerned that there are political forces supporting the creation of these parallel associations to those that have fought for truth and justice over the years. It was not a coincidence, as this year’s poster states, so we are concerned that someone wants to rewrite history regardless of final judgments. The demand for truth and justice, above all, has not died down, but is still very much alive: Bologna is a city wounded by what happened in recent days at Pilastro and wants to find itself in democratic participation. And I think that whoever wants to know Bologna must come to the square on August 2nd.” Also present were **Massimo Fabbri,** president of the Legislative Assembly, and **Gessica Allegni,** regional councilor for Tourism, as well as **Pierangelo Conte**, artistic director of the Comunale, representing superintendent **Elisabetta Riva**.
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