• The Boat of Solidarity Gives Hope to Ex-Convicts and Former Drug Addicts in Palermo

    June 10, 2013 by  
    Filed under Events, Sailing, Sport

    June 21, 2013 8:00 pmtoJune 29, 2013 8:00 pm

     

    Photo by Giusy Grimaldi

     

    Nerina, also dubbed the boat of solidarity, left the port of Syracuse on Monday morning. This sailing boat was restored by a group of ex-convicts and former drug addicts from a prison in Palermo. The Nerina team left for Ancona to participate in the world sailing championship Orc International from June 21 through 29. The boat was made ​​available by a nautical company from Syracuse for the program Libera di, Libera da directed by Concetta Carbone and realized by the cooperative Tandem, which has been dealing with the social reintegration of young offenders for years now. Eighteen students, selected from the local Asp8 Sert, have learned activities related to sailing and boat construction. The project’s goal was the ambitious participation in the World Championship where some of the kids participate as board members, others as technicians until the end the event.

    Sicily Golf Wine and Food

    June 10, 2013 by  
    Filed under Events, Food & Wine, Sport

    June 15, 2013 8:30 amtoJune 16, 2013 9:30 pm

    sicilygolfwineVilla Airoldi Golf Club in Palermo organizes Sicily Golf Wine and Food. This upcoming weekend all participants can play golf,  taste delicious Sicilian food and enjoy a glass of wine.

    In the heart of Palermo within a historic 18th century garden, Villa Airoldi Golf Club is Western Sicily’s most attended golf club. The villa also hosts events such as concerts, art exhibits, book presentations and cocktail parties.

    Program of the event:

    Saturday, June 15

    8:30 AM –  Sicily Golf Wine & Food Tournament (four-ball formula Stableford 9-hole)

    9:00 AM – Start of Golf Open Day

    11:00 AM – Wine House Aperitif (participating wineries: Brugnano, Corvo, Duca di Salaparuta, Feudo Montoni, Feudo Arancio, Florio, Mandarossa, Marchesi de Gregorio, Planeta, Rapitalà, Tasca d’Almerita)

    4:45 PM –  Opening of Coldiretti Area (oenogastronomic excellency-tastings)

    5:00 PM – Beginning of Cooking Contest with three junior chefs

    6:30 PM – Wine/Coffee Sensorial Experience (mini tasting courses by:

    Giovanni Giardina, Master Wine-Taster and ONAV national vice-president,

    Arturo Morettino, Master IIAC Coffee-Taster)

    7:00 PM – 9:00 PM –  Musical Entertainment

    Sunday, June 16

    8:30 AM – Sicily Golf wine & Food Tournament (four-ball formula Stableford 9-hole)

    9:00 AM – Start of Golf Open Day

    10:00 AM – Coldiretti Area Opening with tastings

    11:00 AM – Wine House Aperitif

    4:45 PM  -  Opening of Coldiretti Area (oenogastronomic excellency-tastings

    5:30 PM – Book Presentation: “Chiaracucina” by Chiara Chiaramonte

    6:00 PM – Cooking Competition Awarding

    6:30 PM – Golf Tournament Awarding

    6:45 PM – Instanbike Palermo Award

    7:00 PM – 9:00 PM – Aperitif Buffet and Musical Entertainment

    Free Entrance

    For more information:

    www.villaairoldigolfclub.com

    Facebook: Sicily Golf Wine & Food

    Post by Maria Lina Bommarito

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    Annual National Gay Pride Festival in Palermo

    June 5, 2013 by  
    Filed under Events, Travel

    June 14, 2013 8:00 pmtoJune 23, 2013 8:00 pm

    100,000 participants are expected in Palermo for the Annual National Gay Pride Festival. From Friday June 14 to Sunday 23, Palermo will be the capital of civil rights. “We must free our country from bigotry and prejudice” says Maria Grazia Cucinotta, famous actress and sponsor of the event. This is a historic event for Palermo and Sicily with great participation of LGBT organizations.


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    The highlight of the event will be the colorful parade along the main streets of Palermo on Saturday, June 22. Departing from the Foro Italico by the city’s seafront, the parade will reach the Palermo Pride Village inside the Zisa Castle. The village will be the largest set up ever conceived for such an event in Italy and will host LGBT workshops and debates, but also music concerts, art exhibits, cinema and drama performances.

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    For more information:

    Website: http://palermopride.it/2013/
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    acebook: https://www.facebook.com/Palermopride
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/PalermoPride

    Post by Maria Lina Bommarito

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    Sicilian Rosé Wines: A Seductive New Trend

    June 5, 2013 by  
    Filed under Events, Food & Wine

    June 9, 2013
    6:30 pmto10:30 pm

    Rosé & Trend, a wine tasting event dedicated to Sicilian rosé wines, takes place at the exclusive location of Officine Baronali inside Villa Scovazzo, a restored 18th century villa in Palermo.

    officinebaronali

    Officine Baronali

    Wineries from the different areas in Sicily showcase more than forty different wines. Rosé & Trend is not just a wine-tasting, Officine Baronali will serve finger-food and Sicilian gourmet specialties prepared by the restaurant’s chef.

    Sicilian rosé wines have become more appreciated because their crisp taste and easy to match ability to blend with food. Whenever a red wine would be too much and a white too shy, the best pairing is rosé.

    Participating wineries:
    Tasca d’Almerita, Regaleali, Planeta, Corvo, Firriato, Milazzo, Gorghi Tondi, Caruso & Minini, Barbera, Orestiadi, Rapitalà, Marabino, Settesoli, DiPrima, Paolo Calì, CVA, Spadafora Francesco, Bonavita.

    Tickets available on site €15

    For more information:
    www.verissima.it
    www.officinebaronali.it

    Post by Maria Lina Bommarito

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    Officine Baronali – Via Villa Rosato, 20
    Palermo

    Granita Festival in Acireale

    May 21, 2013 by  
    Filed under Events, Food & Wine, Photos

    June 13, 2013 10:00 amtoJune 16, 2013 12:00 pm

    Granita is a frozen dessert made with water and a syrup base, much like sherbet. It’s origins date back to the Arab domination in Sicily which has left so much to the island in spite of its relatively short period (827-1091 AD).
    In the past the granita was a privilege only for the rich and aristocratic families as it was made using the snow gathered on Mount Etna and on the Peloritani and Nebrodi mountains, then stored in natural caves and extracted during the summer.

    Acireale celebrates this frozen dessert with its own festival from June 13 through 16. For more details and program, please visit www.anivarata.it (ITALIAN).

    photo (1)Photo © Franca Calderone

    For reservations

    Edmea Siracusano
    Etnacoast – convention and visit bureau
    Phone: (+39) 095-7637034 or 347-9134325

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    Art Around the City in Catania

    May 20, 2013 by  
    Filed under Art, Arts & Culture, Events

    May 28, 2013 6:00 pmtoJuly 27, 2013 6:00 pm

    La Materia di un Sogno – Collezione Palo Brodbeck, curated by Gianluca Collica, Alessandra Ferlito and Gianpiero Vincenzo and promoted by the Fondazione Brodbeck in Catania, is opening today. The exhibition showcases artworks by Gabriella Ciancimino, Carmelo Nicosia and Carmelo Nicotra on eight bus lines around the streets of downtwon Catania. This initiative is one of the many that precede the opening on May 25 at 5:00PM of one of the most important contemporary exhibitions that Sicily has hosted in the last few years.

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    For more information, please contact:

    Fondazione Brodbeck
    93 Via Gramignani
    I – 95121 Catania
    Phone:  +39 095 7233111
    Mobile: + 39 3476815258
    Fax:. +39 095 2933777

    www.fondazionebrodbeck.it
    info@fondazionebrodbeck.it
    www.facebook.com/pages/Fondazione-Brodbeck/105282896466

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    Sicilian Students Promote the Mediterranean Diet

    May 16, 2013 by  
    Filed under Events, Food & Wine, News

    May 17, 2013 10:00 amtoMay 19, 2013 7:00 pm

    The Mediterranean diet – declared by UNESCO “Intangible Cultural Heritage” in 2010, is the protagonist of a cultural project created by some Sicilian students. The Rassegna Vino & Olio (Wine & Oil Festival) organized by the students of the P. Mattarella-D. Dolci Institute in Alcamo has the purpose of promoting the Sicilian culinary tradition.

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    Students, public institutions, wine and oil producers are all working together to promote local products and sustain economic development. Three days of exhibitions, music, sport and culture starting on Friday, May 17 at 10:00 AM with the conference - The typicality of the Sicilian territory and the Mediterranean Diet - at the Marconi Congress Center (free entrance). Friday and Saturday at 6:00 PM (and Sunday starting at 10:00 AM) everyone is invited to the trade show in Alcamo’s  gorgeous Piazza Ciullo, the heart of the town’s historic center. Local producers offer tastings of traditional food, olive oils and wines.

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    “The Mediterranean diet” says Sebastiano Bonventre, mayor of Alcamo “must not simply be considered nutrition, but a lifestyle”. It is a combination of habits, knowledge and traditions that go from the countryside to the table.

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    Sicilian food follows the Mediterranean diet, which is characterized  by olive oil as the dominant fat source and a high to moderate  consumption of fruit and vegetables, grains, legumes and fish in combination with small amounts of meat and – of course – wine with meals. Studies confirm the positive health effects of the Mediterranean diet and let’s not forget that the Mediterranean way of eating is tasty, flavorful and enjoyable!

    Post and photos by Maria Lina Bommarito

    For information, email rosadeventiwinefoodtour@gmail.com

    Address: Municipio Centro Congressi Maroni
    Corso Sei Aprile, 119
    91011, Alcamo (TP)

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    Luisa Kuliok: The String of Pearls at Taormina Arte

    May 14, 2013 by  
    Filed under Arts & Culture, Events, Theater

    July 21, 2013
    9:00 pmto11:00 pm

    luisa-kuliokLuisa Kuliok, the Argentine actress who moved Italy as protagonist of the Woman of Mystery, returns to Taormina. On July 21,  Kairospn presents Luisa Kuliok in The String of Pearls, a monologue by Helena Tritek, adapted in Italian and directed by Piero Nicosia, at the Teatro Antico in Taormina.

    The show is a theatrical journey of epic tones that through poems, stories, philosophy and ancient fables confronts the themes of life, love, war, starting with the strong message of dialogue among religions. On stage the versatile actress becomes different characters. The live music, written by master Giallanza, is performed by Calogero Giallanza (flute), Augusta Giraldi (harp) Paolo Rossetti (percussion).

    More at Taoarte.it

    Address: Corso Umberto, 19
    98039 Taormina
    Phone: +39 0942 21142
    Fax: +39 0942 23348
    Email: info@taormina-arte.com

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    Roberto Bolle & Friends at Taormina Arte

    May 13, 2013 by  
    Filed under Arts & Culture, Events

    July 26, 2013
    9:00 pm

    roberto-bolleRoberto Bolle and some of the brightest stars of the American Ballet in NY perform at the ancient theater of Taormina on July 26. A unique and special event that Taormina Arte, in collaboration with Artedanza and Musica and Suoni of Nuccio La Ferlita, offers to the enthusiastic public of dancing. L’étoile of La Scala, already in Taormina in 2009, for the first time this year has managed to achieve an exceptional project: gathering around him some of the greatest talents who animate the ballet season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

    More at www.taoarte.it

    More at Taoarte.it

    Address: Corso Umberto, 19
    98039 Taormina
    Phone: +39 0942 21142
    Fax: +39 0942 23348
    Email: info@taormina-arte.com

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    ZUCCO The Wine of the Son of the King of the French by Lidia Rizzo, Sicilian Filmmaker

    April 9, 2013 by  
    Filed under Arts & Culture, Events

    April 11, 2013 9:00 pmtoApril 14, 2013 9:00 pm

    What brought the richest man of the nineteenth century to die in a province in the deepths of southern Italy? A grand estate, a wine: “Zucco”.

    The Duke of Aumale was the son of Louis Philippe, the first “bourgeois” King, known as the King of the French. He was exiled from his beloved France and in Sicily found a land where he could apply the agricultural precepts of Virgil, an author also loved by his childhood educator Cuvilliere-Fleury, who transmitted to the young Duke his love for books, art and wine.

    The production of the Vin de Zucco began in 1856 in an avant-garde winery which provided work for the majority of the population of Montelepre.

    Zucco’s wines became famous for their purity winning fifteen international awards. This natural wine was obtained only with a five-year ageing in oak barrels without adding any alcohol and was appreciated by European kings and rulers.

    Unfortunately, these wines are no longer produced today but they have left indelible memories at the Castle of Chantilly in France and the Feudo Zucco in the province of Palermo.

    Pietro Galioto, biological agriculturist, has inherited a piece of the old Zucco estate from his father. “I grew up listening to the legends about the Duke told by old field-workers”, he says. One day Pietro hears a voice … the call of the Zucco wine which surpasses time and will perhaps change his life…

    This fascinating story captured by Lidia Rizzo, young Sicilian movie director, and becomes a film. Lidia Rizzo – disciple of Folco Quilici, a renowned documentary filmmaker – has also directed other works such as “Sicilia, un Mare di Vino” (Sicily, a Sea of Wine) and “Isole del Vento Divino” (Islands of God’s Winds). The documentary, a Blue Film production already presented at the Biennial of Venice, will be shown at the 16th International Sonoma Film Festival April 11 through 14, 2013.

    By Maria Lina Bommarito

    For further information:

    www.sonomafilmfest.org

    www.bluefilm.it

    The trailer of the documentary

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