One city that has expressed this intention is Pesaro in the Marche region, which would like to earn the title together with its neighbour Urbino. At the end of last year, a delegation from the municipality of Pesaro travelled to Brussels, at the instigation of the newly elected member of the European Parliament, Matteo Ricci, former mayor of the municipality and promoter of the city as the Italian capital of culture, a title earned for 2024.

A useful comparison to indicate the path to be taken towards the candidature of the province of Pesaro and Urbino as Capital 2033 and during which the dates to be set in the calendar were made official. "The first expression of interest will come out in 2027, the year in which it will be clear how to join. It will then be followed by the actual call for bids, which will come out in 2028," said the deputy mayor, Daniele Vimini, on his return from Brussels. "Pesaro has reiterated its will to continue the path of Pesaro 2024 towards 2033. The first point, not yet acquired, is that of being able to name the candidature Pesaro and Urbino understood as a provincial territory, not clearly as the sum of two municipalities and two administrations'. Because, he explained, 'Normally, only a city name with, at most, a vast territory following and supporting it must appear. The important thing for us is to understand - all of us - the 2033 candidacy as the involvement, on an equal footing, of the 50 municipalities of the province; just as it was in the “50x50 capitali al quadrato” project, which remains the lighthouse of our action'.

Another city that seems to be getting serious is Norcia, in the Umbria region. Norcia, the symbolic city of the 2016 earthquake, with the “Civitas appenninica” is a candidate for European Capital of Culture 2033, within a territorial context that embraces three regions, united by the same destiny, Abruzzo, Marche and Umbria.

‘The candidature of Norcia as European Capital of Culture 2033 represents a unique opportunity to give impetus to a reconstruction that goes beyond the physical places, but invests in the socio-economic and cultural recovery of the community,’ said the president of the Umbria Region, Stefania Proietti.

"This proposal starts from the citizens and therefore from the bottom and is representative of a desire for growth and rebirth. But 2033 - added Proietti - is the bimillenary of the death of the Lord and therefore Norcia, the city of the Patron Saint of Europe, can strongly recall the symbol of Christianity".

A proposal, that of Norcia, that clashes with that of Pesaro. In fact, the support of the President of the Marche Region, Francesco Acquaroli, for the Umbrian municipality of Norcia, to which he has allegedly already allocated a contribution of 40,000 euro, has aroused considerable controversy. The game remains open between the two regions.

The city council of the city of Viterbo has also decided to nominate the city as a European City of Culture for the year 2033, and last April the city council issued an Open Call seeking input of ideas for the candidacy.

Regarding the open call open to the city, aimed at gathering ideas, planning and suggestions for Viterbo's candidacy, the city council makes its opening official: "With unanimous votes, it is resolved to activate an open call directed to citizens - in single, joint or associated form - entities, organizations and/or cultural, social and economic associations of the province of Viterbo, in order to acquire, for "Viterbo European City of Culture 2033," project ideas in line with the macro-themes and criteria for the evaluation of city candidacies identified by European legislation."

Among the first cities to get on track was the municipality of Siracusa, Sicily, which as early as September last year published a notice with an allocation of 50,000 euros to launch the project. “The Municipal Administration therefore intends to identify a partner with consolidated and proven experience in activities pertaining to the ”Candidacy of the City of Syracuse as European Capital of Culture in 2033." The foundation will play the role of Founding Partner together with the City of Syracuse, with the aim of playing a strategic role together with the City of Syracuse in identifying additional partners, for the planning, organization and implementation of activities related to the Candidacy of Syracuse as European Capital of Culture in 2033."

Two city associations responded to the notice: Dueppiù per la città che vorrei, best known for organizing the Tiche Prize; and the Restart association. The choice of the evaluation committee fell on the latter, “unanimously.”

Showing its muscles is the city of Turin, which as early as 2021 had expressed its intention to join the race. And in recent months the project was presented by the director of the candidacy, Agostino Riitano, a cultural manager with high experience in the world of capitals having worked in the Matera 2019 team headed by the Turin-based, Paolo Verri, and, with a role as director for both Procida and Pesaro as Italian capitals of culture.

While in recent years the choices of the European commission that awards the title have rewarded cities of limited size ( in Italy, in 2019 it was Matera), Turin's candidacy aims to propose a paradigm rethink in favor of medium-to-large cities, which can even more strongly contribute to the reaffirmation of a common European identity.

The current year is devoted to a series of preparatory activities, not least the building of relations with the cities of the Netherlands, as well as the definition of public policies in support of the candidacy (with program agreements Municipality - Region - Metropolitan City) the launch of working groups for the composition of the candidacy dossier, the launch of the logo.

--------

EcocNews is an independent, non-profit, online newspaper. We cover the world of European and National Capitals of Culture.
Join us on this journey and support us with a voluntary donation here.