Program of GO!2025 activities presented in Ljubljana

(ANSA) - GORIZIA, 20 NOV - With less than 100 days remaining until the official start of the European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica—Gorizia, the program for this cross-border project was unveiled this morning in Ljubljana. The Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Asta Vrečko, Samo Turel, Mayor of Nova Gorica, and Patrizia Artico, Councilor of the Municipality of Gorizia, attended the event.
    All the project partners shared vital details about the opening ceremony, which will take place on February 8, 2025, in Nova Gorica and Gorizia. This date coincides with Slovenia's National Day of Culture and commemorates the anniversaries of the death of Slovenian poet France Prešeren and the birth of Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti. The full-day, dynamic, and itinerant ceremony will begin at 9:30 AM with a cross-border procession at the Gorizia train station. Stops are planned at Piazza Vittoria and the Nova Gorica train station, culminating at 4 PM with the official ceremony in Piazza Transalpina/Trg Evrope. At 6 PM, the event will continue with a program presentation on the lawn in front of Nova Gorica's municipal building. The closing ceremony is set for early December 2025, featuring a spectacular light installation project spanning both cities.
    Among the highlighted events for 2025 are the "March for Europe," which will take place simultaneously in several European cities divided by borders on May 1, and the 2025 edition of the "Gusti di Frontiera" festival, rebranded as "Gusti senza Frontiere" (Flavors Without Borders). Scheduled for September 26-28, this festival will offer gourmet delights and art events on both the Italian and Slovenian sides of the border.
    On Friday, November 22, a handover ceremony will be held in Bad Ischl, Austria, marking the transition from the current European Capitals of Culture (Bad Ischl, Bod›, and Tartu) to the future Capitals Nova Gorica-Gorizia and Chemnitz. An additional event for the new Capital is scheduled for Tuesday, November 26, in Brussels, coinciding with the EU Council of Ministers of Culture. (ANSA).