Forget Maria, Eva or Ciaria. The party starts when you meet Emilia….
By Jordan Kensington
My birthday date (1st of July) was fast approaching. So as I was sat in the office discussing ideas for the big 30th celebration, I got a call from the Editor saying we were invited to Emilia Romagna for the ‘pink party’. Now, I am not going to lie….Being that, I am a straightforward strictly female loving kind of guy, I was a little bit sceptical . It just did not seem like the right idea spending my birthday dressed in pink and dancing around with Elton John. I mean turning 30 is a big deal, I am leaving the 20’s and driving full steam into the 30’s so we have got to get the party right and furthermore, my favourite colour is blue!
Anyway, after Emilia Romagna’s Marketing and PR executives; Barbara Candolfini and Silvia Mazza put in a call to go through the programme. I came off the phone, got into the waiting car faster than anyone could say ‘Jack Robinson’… I was off with our full Chelsea Monthly TV production crew to Stanstead airport, enroute to Emilia Romagna to celebrate my birthday in style. Emilia–Romagna (pronounced [eˈmiːlja roˈmaɲɲa], is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historical regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of 22,446 km2 and about 4.4 million inhabitants.
Emilia–Romagna today is considered as one of the richest and most developed regions in Europe and has the third highest GDP per capita in Italy. Bologna, the region’s capital, has one of Italy’s highest quality of life and has highly advanced and modern social services. Emilia–Romagna is also a major cultural and touristic centre, being the home of the oldest university in the Western World, containing numerous Renaissance cities (such as Modena, Parma and Ferrara). A major centre for food and automobile production (Emilia–Romagna is home of numerous iconic gastronomical and automotive industries, such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Ducati) and having a lively and colourful coastline, with numerous tourist resorts, such as Rimini and Riccione.
We landed in Rimini, and headed straight to the Grand Hotel for the welcome party. I am glad to say, I came off very sober and walked straight into the hotel without any ‘skulduggery’ happening (What do you mean? Skulduggery is a very real word. Check it out under ‘S’ in the dictionary).. I digress, the next morning got up with a suspicious hangover but who cares??? It was the 1st of July, it was my birthday and I can hang if I want to… Back to business, taking a drive through Rimini, the scenery was simply out of this world. 100 km of Italy’s Adriatic coastline had been turned to pink for ‘Notte Rosa’ or ‘Pink Night’ as they call it. The party started and continued throughout the weekend with entertainment, cultural events and live performances. On Pink Night itself, the entire seafront was filled with various music stages, sets from famous films plus stalls selling food, drink and gifts. Dance performances, contemporary art and video exhibitions gave the ambience of a seriously fun filled party.
At midnight, pink fireworks darted all the way down the 40km stretch of coast, illuminating the skies along the entire beachfront. All I needed at the point was the perfect Mona Lisa to look into her eyes and errrr……… Anyway, by this point as you can imagine I was in a state of Martini… Yes, the alcohol brand provided the backdrop to the amazing selection of luxury cuisine.
So why Pink?
Queue in , Marketing executive, for Emily Romagna’s tourist board Silvia Mazza with her prompt response “Rimini prides itself on its hospitality, kindness and friendly society and it feels that the colour pink reflects this warm outlook symbolising love, emotions and family”.
Ah… Ah… I told you it will all makes sense. The theme for this year was ‘the dream is here’ – suggesting that people spend too long dreaming of the impossible and should instead embrace the world around them. The theme fitted perfectly with the work of Rimini’s most famous son, film director Federico Fellini, well known for blurring the lines between dream and reality in his films.
This year’s poster was designed by Bertrand Sallé, a young French artist. Inspired by postcards of 1900th century, the image shows the dreamlike scene of the meeting of the moon and the heart. Now, to say I had a good time was an understatement. To say, I had the ‘best time of my life’ .. Now, that is the statement.
Want to travel and experience what makes Emily Romagna so exciting ?
Log on to : www.travelemiliaromagna.com
Travel Facts:
The region is served by four international airports:
Bologna – BA from London Gatwick; Ryanair from London Stansted and Edinburgh
Rimini – Ryanair from London Stansted and Liverpool
Parma – Ryanair from London Stansted
British Airways : www.britishairways.com
Ryanair : www.ryanair.com
Wind Jet : www.volawindjet.it/uk
Watch our Chelsea Monthly TV coverage on : www.chelseamonthly.com from the 19th of January 2012.
