‘Sì.’
‘So . . . if it were big enough, it would bypasscomunelevel, and need approval from the state.’
‘Esatto.’
Sarah suddenly felt lifted. An excitement rippled through her she hadn’t felt in a long time. It was familiar and recharged her. ‘Marghe, I’m going to need your help.’
She sighed. ‘I was afraid of that.’
‘Matthew, we are going to close this show with a bang!’ Sarah began pacing the space between the en suite and their bed.
Matthew, sat at the desk by the first window, cocked his head. ‘I’m going to need more information.’
‘A festival,’ she said, spreading her hands wide as if introducing a magic act. Matthew blinked, then raised his eyebrows. ‘A huge three-day food, wine and artisanal crafts festival. Here, on the grounds. And we’re going to join forces with the tourism council, PR and social media teams, as well as Agriculture and Arts portfolios of the Umbrian state government.’
‘And do they know this yet?’
‘Well . . . no. I’ve just been plotting all afternoon with Margherita.’
‘Where did this come from?’
‘I was up at the supermarket this morning. There’s literally nothing in there that excited me, or is even remotely reminiscent of these lands. Could you imagine the community power of drawing together not only all these small towns, but producers, farmers and artisans from across theregioneto celebrate all things Umbrian?’
Matthew’s eyes had a flicker of intrigue. ‘Go on.’
‘We could host the first annual Sagra dell’Umbria. Right here. Put Fiorellino and this valley on the map.’
His bottom jaw dropped slightly. ‘That’s brilliant!’
‘Imagine how powerful that could be!’
‘And there’s no real equivalent already?’
‘There’s a whole tonne of religiousfeste, medieval-esque ones, some smallsagrededicated to food and whatnot, but nothing onthisscale.’
Matthew’s excitement suddenly dampened. ‘Ugh. Saverio.’
‘Not an issue.’ Her eyes gleamed. ‘Marghe said that if we can make it big enough, it bypasses his jurisdiction completely. Straight toregionelevel.’
‘But how big isbig enough?’
Sarah walked over to him and braced herself with both hands on his shoulders. ‘Leave the measuring to me.’ She breathed in deeply and her face erupted in the most genuine smile Matthew had seen on her for months. ‘I live for this!’
Sarah and Margherita spent their next two lessons making calls and sending emails to all the contacts they could reach in various departments of theregioneoffices. The most helpful person they connected with was a woman named Emanuela Conti from a PR firm working alongside the Umbrian Tourism Council. She was immediately taken by the prospect of a festival and they arranged a meeting on-site at La Viola.
Margherita, Sarah and now Matthew, who had also joined the cause, were all impressed with Emanuela’s enthusiasm and can-do attitude. Her prompt replies to all correspondence felt like a positive sign and buoyed their hopes.
Emanuela had made a number of requests in preparation for the meeting: a list of farmers, producers, artisans, musicians and hospitality services who would commit to participation; a detailed running sheet for the three days; a budget, ensuring complete transparency in the allocation of any funding; an OH&S plan for the grounds of La Viola; and a formal proposal to take to the Umbrian Tourism Council for the entire project.
Given the sheer volume of material, Emanuela agreed on a generous turnaround and their meeting was scheduled for a fortnight. Matthew prepared all the legal documentation, contracts and budgets, while Sarah and Margherita set about contacting possible stallholders and presenters.
Sarah reminded herself that though the process was second-nature to her, the environment was not. She was dealing with Italians, in Italy, on Italian time. They had to go slow and steady, be firm and set clear goalposts.
By the end of September, Sarah and Margherita managed to curate an enviable list of Umbria’s finest purveyors, producers and artisans. They had a list of thirty-two possible agricultural and food stallholders, as well as two potential Master of Ceremonies, three bands, four singers, a traditional folk-dancing group, plus a separate list of close to twenty artists and artisans who were all interested in participating.
Now all they needed was Umbria to come to the party.
trentadue
