Two groups of participants gathered at the train station of Agno (in Switzerland) and in Lavena Ponte Tresa (in Italy) and have left for a common destination: the custom bridge of Ponte Tresa, now known as “the Peace Bridge”.
Divided into several stages, the walk gave moments of leisure and animation that involved, fascinated and at the same time amused the participants.
A great shared moment of the 2019 edition was the award ceremony of the winning class of the contest “Poems for Peace”, launched in May by the Culture Ticino Network Association, to which more than 200 students, from the elementary schools of Ticino and the province of Varese, took part.
Program of the day:
At 9.00 o’clock the Swiss group has gathered at the FLP station of Agno, where, as every year, the participants have been received with a breakfast, offered by the municipality of Agno and organized by Patrizia Cavagna.
Then the president and founder of the Culture Ticino Network association Margherita Maffeis and the mayor Thierry Morotti have delivered a speech.
After that, the group the group started walking towards the Evangelical Center of Magliaso, where it arrived at 10.00 am, greeted by a buvette.
After the speeches by Don Rolando Leo and Tobias E. Ulbrich, the participants left the Evangelical Center of Magliaso at 10:45 am towards Caslano, in Piazza Lago, whose stop was enlivened by a second buvette, songs and dances by the group of the Scouts of Caslano and the guys of the Ashkenazy Ballet Center. Before and after the performances, Don Giampaolo Patelli, made important reflections on peace and solidarity.
At 11.20 a.m. we have left for the final stop: the custom bridge of Ponte Tresa.
At 12 a.m, liven up by their enthusiasm, the two groups of participants have met on the custom bridge, that has been overwhelmed by people, sounds and colors.
The crowd of families, students, authorities and participants from several countries have stopped the traffic for a moment, in order to celebrate all together.
A wonderful picture, which shows that people maintain bridges together, not stones, cement or iron.
After the official moment, during which the president Margherita Maffeis, the mayors of the border towns Massimo Mastromarino (Lavena Ponte Tresa) and Daniel Buser (Ponte Tresa) and Don Rafael, parson of Ponte Tresa, have delivered a speech, a musical entertainment was held by coro della Città di Luino and the female choir Thelys-Trinate Nova.
Swiss and Italians, finally reunited in just one group, went to the communal hall of Ponte Tresa, where the traditional “Maccheronata di solidarietà” has taken place, followed by an afternoon full of entertainment, tief reflections and beautiful songs by coro della Città di Luino and the female choir Thelys-Trinate Nova.
A great shared moment of the 2019 edition was the award ceremony of the winning class of the contest “Poems for Peace”, launched in May by the Culture Ticino Network Association, to which more than 200 students, from the elementary schools of Ticino and the province of Varese, took part.
The two winning poems, «Noi di Ponte» of the school “A. Manzoni” of Lavena Ponte Tresa and «La gentilezza è magica» of Bodio elementary school, were awarded on stage with the delivery of a special prize to the triumphant classes: the free entry to the “Village of Peace” of November 11th 2019 which will be held at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano, an educational day on the themes of human rights and peace, dedicated to elementary, middle and high schools.
In addition, the winners received the official winning certificate and the beautiful keychain created by the guests of the GenerazionPiù Day Center in Lugano.
All the other students, the students of the Sant’Anna Institute of Lugano, the Casa di Irma Montessori School of Bedano, the primary school Giovanni Pascoli of Besozzo and the other students of the elementary school of Lavena Ponte Tresa received a consolation prize , that is a free entry for the solidarity show “Dances and surprises for peace”, a show which will be held during the World Forum for peace on Sunday December 1st 2019 at 3.30 pm at the Multipurpose Room in Paradiso.
[CLICK HERE] to download the official event brochure
Also read the articles published in the newspapers:
PRESSENZA INTERNATIONAL PRESS AGENCY: https://www.pressenza.com/it/2019/10/in-cammino-per-la-pace-camminata-transfrontaliera-tra-italia-e-svizzera/
RIVISTA DI LUGANO:
After the event, the association Culture Ticino Network will carry on its activities, especially the organization of the 9th edition of the World Peace Forum, that will be inaugurated on Monday 11th of November 2019, during the “Village of Peace” at the Palazzo dei Congressi of Lugano, a whole day dedicated to primary, secondary, high and professional schools of Ticino.
The funds raised during the events will support the projects of the Association in the Philippines and in Ticino.
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