August 2026
At nine in the morning, after the customary recitation of Morning Prayer, the Rimini Exhibition Centre is already bustling with groups of young men and women who, seemingly scattered yet guided by careful coordination, move from one pavilion to another along the vast corridors connecting the event’s 140,000 square metres of space. The impression is that of a huge beehive where everything may appear random at first glance, yet every action is part of a deliberate order.
Some are painting, others carrying wooden panels; some are drawing floor plans, while others are fastening panels into place; some push heavy trolleys, others clean floors, furnish rooms or work on electrical systems. Were it not for the fact that in just a few days these same spaces will be filled with tens of thousands of visitors, one might think they had wandered onto the set of a Fellini film.
Pre-Meeting: the week dedicated to setting up the event
Welcome to the Pre-Meeting, the week that began on 12 August and will end on 19 August, dedicated to setting up the event and involving 500 volunteers. «To be precise,» adds Enrico Albani, who is responsible for this part of the organisation, «we have already completed a three-day Pre-Pre-Meeting, involving around eighty professionals who prepared the logistics that make the volunteers’ work possible.» This year, moreover, the visit of Pope Leo makes everything even more complex.
Albani’s office is one of the most popular places at the Exhibition Centre because it is one of the few with a working coffee machine. By 2 p.m., the queue of young people grows longer, all hoping for a dose of caffeine to ease the strain of the heat and the work. Federico, who studies music in Milan, says this is his sixth year taking part in the Pre-Meeting. «At first,» he explains, «I came because a friend invited me; then, year after year, I became increasingly aware of the beauty of this gesture.»
Most of the volunteers come from Milan, Bologna and Ferrara, where they mainly study architecture, engineering, design or fine arts. The young volunteers pay for their own travel and accommodation, although the Meeting tries to help by suggesting places such as parish centres or religious houses where hospitality is still available. To be accepted, volunteers must complete an eight-hour safety course and are strictly required to wear safety footwear throughout their daily shift. They are divided into groups under the guidance of adult coordinators — many of them retired craftspeople — for a working day that, as mentioned, begins at nine and ends at 6 p.m. There are three evenings devoted to reflection and sharing, led by Father Ignazio — a priest who is himself a Pre-Meeting volunteer — together with the Meeting organisers, as well as a pilgrimage on 15 August to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonora. On the final day, there is an evening of celebration and singing in front of Rimini Cathedral, inviting local residents to take part in the Meeting.
Many of these volunteers will not even see the outcome of their hard work
«Manual work,» points out Elisa, who studies at the Brera Academy, «let’s be honest, is hard. But here I discover that there is a kind of effort whose meaning lies in offering it. Giving yourself helps you grow. Just as it does in life.»
There is, in fact, something paradoxical about the work of this group, which precedes the 3,000 volunteers who will take to the field from 21 to 26 August: many of them will not even see the outcome of their hard work. «It’s true,» says Giulia, a graphic designer. «Not everyone has the opportunity to stay on for the Meeting itself. But that too has educational value in work that is beautiful in itself. We don’t come here for the result.» Elisa adds: «Throughout the year, in our studies, we deal with beauty, but it is as though that beauty were reserved for ourselves. Here, instead, it is for the world.»
All kinds of people take part in the Pre-Meeting shifts: retired hospital department heads and carpenters, executives and graphic technicians, students and professors. An architect and an electrician even met here and later married. «It really is a very special experience,» Albani concludes, «and one that also requires a certain degree of awareness. But it is wonderful to see the young people returning year after year. Many of them have learned here the importance of doing a job well, regardless of recognition or reward, and have seen unexpected friendships grow among them.»
It truly is the “behind the scenes” without which the “stage lights” of Rimini could never shine.
