Barolo is worldwide famous as the home of the well known wine with takes the name afther the village. It’s located in the heart of the Langhe Hills, in Piedmont, northern Italy, one our from Turin. The village is renowned for its vineyards and its variety of delicious red wines. Barolo is quite small (5,6 sq. km) with a population of 750 inhabitants. Plenty of people, mainly wine connoisseurs, from all the world, visit Barolo every year and join the music and literature festival Collisions in July.
Wine has been made and produced here from Roman times. It’s quite easy to reach the Langhe area with a short one hour drive. The place can offer beautiful sights, good restaurants, hotels, and farm holiday resorts. If you name Barolo to any Italian people, you’ll see their eyes lit up at the thought of the delicious wines and food produced there in the surrounding towns of La Morra, Barbaresco, Monforte e Serralunga.
These legendary names appear in the top restaurant wine lists across Italy. They are the villages and castles whose names have been given to wines, produced on specific selected hillsides. The Barolo area is the heaven of food. The lower slopes of the wine planted hills are the proper ground for the cultivation of the hazelnuts nicknamed “the round and gentle hazelnut of the Langhe”. These are folded into nougat, pounded into cookies and confections, and often married to chocolate. Nutella and its nobler versions originate here. Don’t miss thin handmade egg noodles called tajarin. Yolk-yellow, they are fabulously rich topped with melted butter, meat sauces or porcini mushrooms. Agnolotti, the local ravioli stuffed with mixed meats, are also typical of the Langhe. Meats here are often braised slowly in red wine – not food for faint hearted people, but they go well with the local red wines.
Well defined by Patti Smith as “The essence of what a festival nowadays shoud be” for its ability to mix international music, world literature, enogastronomy culture, at present Collisioni is one of the most popular, awaited cultural event in Italy, as well as the most popular music and literature festival able to attract the largest audience in north of Italy. The festival takes place in the very heart of the beautiful wine region of the Langhe Hills, in the village of Barolo, UNESCO World Heritage site, that gives the name to the famous wine and is visited every year by thousand of turists attracted by the wine and food culture. The main concept of the festival is the crossover between different artistic languages and generations, taking for granted that literature as well as music aren’t but narrative forms able to communicate ideas and emotions. The concurrent presence of literature conferences of some of the most prestigious international authors during the day and the international concerts during the evenings create a very unique atmosphere.
For four days a small village on the top of the hills turns into an open air non-stop stage where the audience attend lectures, readings and concerts for three days and live together in the magical mood of a small village in the hills. The concert arena is placed in the natural amphitheatre of the main village square, surrounded by the ancient vineyards of the five “grand crus of wine” Barolo. Collisioni is the biggest literature and music event in Piedmont organized with the grant aid of the Piedmont Region to promote culture and art.
The location was chosen among the others by Bob Dylan for his only Italian concert in 2012 and in the same edition by Patti Smith. In 2013(by Jamiroquai for his only italian concert, and in 2014 Collisioni was chosen by Deep Purple and by Neil Young for their only concerts in Italy. The 2015 edition had live performances by Mark Knopfler, Paolo Nutini, Sting and Passenger. In 2016 Elton John and Mika performed in concert at Collisioni Festival, along with Italian music stars.
Among the literature, culture and art guests in the past editions of the festival: Salman Rushdie, Paul Auster, the Oscar winner director Michael Cimino, Don DeLillo, the Nobel prize awarded José Saramago, the Nobel prize Vidia Naipaul, Ian McEwan, Bret Easton Ellis, David Grossman, Roberto Saviano, Suzanne Vega, Jonathan Coe, James Ellroy, David Sedaris, Jeffery Deaver, Art Spiegelman, Don Winslow. In 2016 Nobel prize Svetlana Aleksievic, Richard Ford, Atom Egoyan, Abel Ferrara, Michel Houellebecq were guests at Collisioni Festival.
For three days a small village on the top of the hills turns into an open air non-stop stage where the audience attend lectures, readings and concerts for three days and live together in the magical mood of a small village in the hills. The concert arena is placed in the natural amphitheatre of the main village square, surrounded by the ancient vineyards of the five “grand crus of wine” Barolo. Collisioni is the biggest literature and music event in Piedmont organized with the grant aid of the Piedmont Region to promote culture and art.
The peculiar feature of the festival is is its social involvement with young people. Every year the government provides with boarding more than 1000 literature and arts students coming from all Europe, especially from the poorest regions who couldn’t otherwise join cultural activities. Every year during the festival some of the most important Italian singers and writers organize meetings with the youth to speak about urgent matters of the present days.
