The Festival del Viaggiatore chosen by Europe as a model of Good Practices

The Traveller festival aims to give voice to different experiences, actively engage with the public and share the cultural and historical heritage of Asolo

The Traveller Festival was first carried out in Asolo, north-eastern Italy, in 2015, with the aim of enhancing the participation and co-creation of travel experiences among invited speakers and tourists, all of whom are considered “travellers”. Private spaces normally not accessible to the public were opened, further attracting visitors from all over the country.

The festival is centred on the idea of the journey as a metaphor for life. The festival connects art to culture, tourism to cinema, reportage to documentary film, journalism to craftsmanship, economy to literature. Travellers live through and co-create the travel experience through unstructured and informal dialogues that are characterised by a different theme each year. The places and itineraries proposed are containers as well as co-stars of personal and collective experiences.

The Festival enables to access hidden cultural and historical jewels of the town of Asolo, including private villas, palaces, gardens, and "barchesse" that belonged to known figures of the past (Eleonora Duse, Dame Freya Stark, Malipiero) as well as the Castle of Queen Caterina Cornaro.

The festival directly supports cultural creative industries by inviting professional writers, journalists, bloggers, but also travellers from many different professional backgrounds, as well as by organising experiences with local guides and artisans throughout the event.

Resources needed

200k € & 8 months of work to identify theme, draft the project, fund-raise, identify speakers, prepare meetings, organize locations with the owners, set up the press office, develop communication, connect to TV operators, welcome and accommodate for visitors. Ca. 40 volunteer support the festival.

Evidence of success

Since 2015, there have been 5 editions, each including an average of: 30 events, 5000 visitors, 28 active locations, 13 private residences, 8 immersive trips, 3 exhibitions, 3 musical moments, 2 events with artisans and an award to writers whose stories could be turned into film. Live events are broadcast via social networks, networks and TV channels. 117,687 people reached in September 2019, both national and international users. All locations sold out in 2019. Increase of 22% from 2018 to 2019

Potential for learning or transfer

The Festival aims at becoming a travelling festival directly engaging with other locations, by inviting speakers from other territories to share stories from their own place in other locations.In 2019 edition, it hosted 2 Mayors from Campania & Abruzzo to promote their territory at the Association Wine City event.The Festival is drafting an agreement with 3 other towns to recreate the Traveller festival in their own territory, based on their specific cultural heritage.Thanks to its theme on Travel, this festival can be adapted to other location, enabling different places to cross-reference each other, also through a coordinated calendar.The festival can lead to the creation of new tourism products on a multifaceted and innovative reading of travel, provide new tourism offers in areas which may be less known.Thus, it can enhance the cultural and creative tourism potential of smaller areas, provide opportunities local CCIs as well as enhance visitors' awareness and knowledge of travel

Source: www.interregeurope.eu

Site: www.festivaldelviaggiatore.com