The Wood Festival, the curtain falls on “The edition that marks a quantum leap”
Cantù. The mayor: “A memorable event. The next ones will have the same theme: unique pieces.”
Councilor Girgi: “It will become the industry’s premier event. Well done everyone, we’re a leader.”
The thirteenth edition of the Wood Festival was dedicated to “Unique Pieces,” and Mayor Alice Galbiati has no doubts: these twelve days of events dedicated to celebrating Cantù’s excellence were just that. A unique edition, an edition to start again from. So much so that future editions of the mandate will also have the same title. Looking ever further ahead, after having already expanded to Como and Milan.
Emphasizing young people and looking beyond wood-furniture: “From now on,” confirms Isabella Girgi, Councilor for Culture and Productive Activities, “it must not just be a Wood Festival but a supply chain event. Our glassmakers, our blacksmiths, our upholsterers are skilled. They’re all skilled. We’re a center of excellence.” The Wood Festival closed yesterday, its goal being to make it an event that showcases Cantù as a cultural and creative hub. With Gaetano Pesce’s monumental installations in the square and Giuliano Vangi’s works in Galliano and at the Melotti high school. As per now-established tradition, the closing ceremony was held at Enaip Factory, hosted by Dolores Longhi and Ilenia Brenna.
“It embodies the Mome project.”
We wanted it to be a memorable edition, explained Mayor Alice Galbiati. And the opening was, even if not as hoped. He admitted the great emotion of those days immediately following the flood that brought Brianza to its knees, but they moved forward, because the choice of the starting date, September 24, was not accidental: on that very day, in 1961, the first edition of the Salone del Mobile in Milan was inaugurated.
An edition, he continued, that for the first time truly embodied the project of the Furniture and Lace Museum, which is taking its first steps: “A conscious look at the past, at our tradition, but building a bridge to the future, because we cannot live on the past. It was meant to be a memorable edition, one that reinvigorated the past, and those who attended saw firsthand the leap in quality of the Festival. It was truly unique.”
“Pride without nostalgia”
A sentiment shared by Councilor Girgi: “I wanted to clear away the dust that has settled and restore Cantù to its former glory. It was a festival of change. It shouldn’t just be a festival of wood, but of the entire supply chain. Everyone is great. We are a center of excellence.” An extraordinary edition, according to Undersecretary Nicola Molteni: “An initiative that tells us what we were, what Cantù has experienced, with pride but without nostalgia. But it also tells us what we are today: a community of small and medium-sized businesses, of self-made artisans who stand out in an increasingly complex world.”
The previous evening, the Teatro San Teodoro hosted the sixth edition of the Mulier Award, organized by the Clara Galotta Committee and Pro Cantù and hosted by Laura Cattaneo and Biagio Barra, with guests including criminologist Roberta Bruzzone and Luana Sciamanna, an expert in gender violence. Four award winners: entrepreneur Giada Mieli, general manager of the Lario Hotels group Cristina Zucchi, soprano Carlotta Colombo, and a special prize to Mariangela Rubino, who puts her experience in the beauty field to the service of cancer patients at the Valduce.
