PRESS RELEASE (12/08/2016)
Saturday, August 13, night of the witches, a Loano, with the Basüe Festival, promoted by the’Department of Tourism and Culture of the City of Loano and organized by the’Multipurpose Cultural Center Association Loano In cooperation with ASCOM Loano.
Over four hundred figures will bring back the era of witch hunt, which swept across Europe for several centuries, with the persecution of women suspected of performing acts of magic such as spells, curses, witchcraft, and enchantments.
At 9 p.m., in Italy Square, recreating the atmosphere of that bygone era will be the fire games performed by skilled jugglers who will compete amid a multitude of flames, accompanied by medieval music played live by the Rabbit Company. Music will also accompany the “witches” sabbath," performed with original choreography by the dancers of the Lorella Brondo's Attimo Danza Civic School.
The rolling of drums will announce the trial and condemnation for witchcraft. The witch, chained and placed in the cage, will be led to the stake by the austere Torquemada with a retinue of armigers, inquisitors, nobles and commoners. The procession, which will pass through the streets of the center, will be enriched by the presence of an imaginative carousel of characters on stilts and groups of witches who will dance to a fast-paced rhythm.
Opening the parade will be the Sun and Moon with sparkling gowns and the Great Wind Witch. Behind them are priestesses, satellites, and stars. Then it will be the turn of drummers, clarions and flag-wavers of the “City of Ventimiglia, followed by the Savona Historical Group And by magical woodland creatures.
Alongside street performers, tourists and residents of all ages will be the stars of the historical parade, with the opportunity to don costumes and hairstyles to transform themselves into witches, wizards, and little devils.
The outfits, which each year come from the imagination of Giovina Mannelli, creator of the festival, possess a unique sartorial quality thanks to their characteristic handcrafting and the refined finishes created by a team of volunteer seamstresses.
Giovina Mannelli, creator of the festival, together with Loredana Icardo, will direct the event, now in its fifteenth edition.
The procession will travel through the old town, the waterfront, and reach the beach under the Francheville Pier where the witch will be burned. Simultaneously in the sky will rise the lights and crackling of the fireworks display. Original creations with fountain, sphere and rain-effect shapes will intersect in the sky forming a magical play of colorful lights, a bursting scene that will create an enveloping atmosphere. Light, shape, color and rhythm will compose an original and unique show.
Before and after the parade along the seafront, there will be two music stations: in the Maccagli Garden Space you will be able to dance with the DJ-Set by Disco inferno, in Fortress Square you can listen to the musician Massimo Spinetti. “Devilish tastings” can be savored throughout the center.
