May 2025
Meeting 2025 is just around the corner! With the “Meeting Preview” event that took place today starting at 6:00 PM at the Galli Theater in Rimini, the exhibitions, shows, Children’s Village, and Sports Village of the 2025 edition were presented, which will take place from August 22 to 27 with the title “In desert places we will build with new bricks”.
The event was attended by Alessandro Banfi, journalist, author, and television host, Letizia Bardazzi, president of the Italian Association of Cultural Centers, Matteo Severgnini, rector of the “Regina Mundi” School in Milan, Moreno Maresi, founder and vice president of Rinascita Basket Rimini, Chiara Locatelli, pediatrician neonatologist at the Sant’Orsola Hospital in Bologna, and on the musical side, singer-songwriters Martino Chieffo and Luca Fol, but especially international performer, writer, theater director, and producer Jared McNeill.
There were three institutional speeches: the president of the Emilia-Romagna Region Michele de Pascale, the mayor of Rimini Jamil Sadegholvaad, and the bishop of Rimini Nicolò Anselmi. The evening concluded with a speech by the president of the Meeting Bernhard Scholz.
“With the exhibitions, shows, and Children’s Village of this new edition of the Meeting,” declared the Meeting president, Bernhard Scholz, “we want to present, through the appeal of beauty and the power of sharing, experiences and initiatives that build places of encounter, freedom, and creativity in the ‘deserts’ of existential solitude, lack of meaning, and violence.”
From the brilliant founder of Bank of America Amadeo Peter Giannini, to Carlo Acutis, witness of faith and son of the digital generation; from the sacrifice of the martyrs of Tibhirine in Algeria, to the profound humanity of Vasilij Grossman; from the contemporary strength of Francis of Assisi, rediscovered in his Testament, to the roots of the Christian faith in the Council of Nicaea, 1700 years later: the journey of the Meeting 2025 exhibitions makes us relive unique stories of constructiveness.
The exhibition journey will open to art and architecture -- with images of seekers of the sacred in contemporary photography and with an exhibition dedicated to Romanesque -- and to science, with an exhibition on new materials, “new bricks” to which both nature and human ingenuity contribute. Other exhibitions will speak the burning language of current events with challenges emerging from the world of work, stories of hope from families facing disability (in a distant dialogue with a thousand-year-old traveling companion, the monk, historian, and astronomer Hermann the Lame), experiences of reconciliation against the backdrop of wars, and finally dozens of testimonies of hope from “martyred Ukraine.”
The opening show on Friday, August 22 at the Galli Theater will be “The Rock”, inspired by the work of T.S. Eliot, combining poetry, music, and performance with American theater director Jared McNeill and with an extraordinary interpreter like Sergio Castellitto. In “Joseph & Bros” by Alessandro Berti, on Tuesday the 26th, three men find themselves together in a cell, among identity, faith, and responsibility, where coexistence becomes a mirror of the world. Great shows also in the Fair Auditorium on Saturday the 23rd with Giacomo Poretti, in “The misfortune of having a soul,” which will explore the mystery of being parents today. The Enzo Piccinini Orchestra presents on Monday the 25th the “Serenade for Strings” by Dvořák, a hymn to humanity through classical music.
At the Tarkovsky Theater, students from the Don Gnocchi School Institute of Carate Brianza will stage “The Jeweler’s Shop” by Karol Wojtyla, while the Ologramma Choral and Instrumental Group will present “Peace Rock: Step Made of Songs” at the Agostiniani Court. Live music will also resonate at the Meeting Pools: from “Zapotec” by Francesco Picciano, to The Sun, a rock band with a soul (and an incredible following). Two events will remember Lucio Dalla: the lesson/show “If I were an angel” by Cristiano Governa (in room C2) and the evening “We wait without fear, tomorrow,” between storytelling and song. Finally, a highly anticipated tribute with the concert-tribute to Claudio Chieffo and the fifth edition of the Meeting Music Contest: with Cristiano Godano and Casadilego also on the jury.
The two main exhibitions of the 2025 Village will focus on Antoni Gaudí, his view of nature and his creative method, and Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, which tells of a kingdom to be rebuilt starting from a common ideal, in dialogue with the Meeting’s title. There are many new features: a new arena for meetings aimed at children, teenagers, and adults, a larger theater pavilion with shows and film forums, a reading space in the bookstore, an area for the very young (1-3 years) and one for ancient wooden games. Confirmed are the over 100 workshops and the area dedicated to board games. The Village, on an area of 6,000 square meters, will be open until 10:00 PM this year. Reservations are required only for exhibitions and workshops.
It will offer a vast program in collaboration with CSI and Cdo Sport in a pavilion of 13,000 square meters. A great new feature is the presence of RBR Rinascita Basket Rimini with top-level matches. And then proposals for all ages: five-a-side football, volleyball, RapaTennis, chess, wrestling, and the highly requested tournaments and camps of the Meeting. Finally, space for exhibitions, games, and “Monday for Lions” for young people. Reservations via app.
THE FIGURES OF MEETING 2025
On the structural, logistical, and service front, there are many peculiarities of Meeting 2025. The exhibition spaces will increase by over 8,000 square meters compared to the 2024 edition (also including pavilion A7), the seating for catering will be 5,000, the bookstore will occupy 1,000 square meters, the partner companies will be 150. The Meeting, which will remain open every day until midnight, is confirmed as the only major Italian event with free admission and parking; even more unique for the contribution of three thousand volunteers from Italy and abroad.
The complete program of Meeting 2025, including the conferences, will be presented in Rome in July.
