About us: the structure of the festival
Cerealia is an international festival which takes place in Italy every year for four days in June (always including June 9, which is the date of the ancient Vestal rites and the feast of pistores– the Roman bakers). Some activities may take place before or after the festival. The key themes are: Culture, Society, Economy, Nutrition and Gastronomy, Environment, Territory and Landscape, Tourism, Collective Identities and shared Memories.
The organizers are committed to creating a sustainable event with low environmental impact.
Cerealia’s organizing system operates using a balanced combination of the “glocal model” and the “State model of identity”. According to this management model, the Festival’s producer support the partners at the local level and act as a network for international efforts as well as to design content and activities. The intent is to use a “light” management structure, through which the producer seeks to avoid duplication of central responsibilities, encouraging partners to work together to achieve the common goals of all the festival’s stakeholders, both public and private. Both profit and nonprofit organizations partners of the Festival can offer their unique know-how, human and material resources, services, and structure. Cerealia’s partners, in charge of the activities organized at the local level, cooperate with the Festival producer, responsible for its main contents and overall management. This flexible governance framework facilitates the potential development of activities suggested from diverse territories. Cerealia is a participatory festival enhancing shared economy, and highlighting the positive impact of new consumption and production patterns, more respectful of natural ecology and human needs. The calendar of activities, based on producer’s and partners’ initiatives, includes: seminars, conferences and workshops; live performances; food tastings and themed menus; guided tours, photo and fine arts exhibitions; educational workshops for adults and children.
Recognitions
- EFFE – Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe Label 2015/2016
- Selected by Regione Lazio among the “Good Cultural Practices” (n. 22 su 198) and among the 18 “Good Cultural Practices of Excellence” (Regione Lazio, BUR 4718 del 20/10/2016 – n. 84)
- EFFE – Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe Label 2017/2018
- Medal of the President of the Republic of Italy to the 2017-2018 – 2019-2020 editions
- Member of the coordination table of the MAECI World Week of Italian Cuisine (from 2018)
- EFFE – Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe Label 2019/2020
Networking activities
- Since 2013 the Cerealia Festival hosts internships in collaboration with the Académie de Grenoble – Lycée Polyvalent Louise Michel (Grenoble, France).
- Cerealia is twinned with Giornate del Mediterraneo Antico / Rotta dei Fenici, Fai la differenza / Festival della Sostenibilità, Festa del Pane di Genzano di Roma
- Cerealia supports The Milan Charter on Food and Nutrition: http://www.milanprotocol.com - The festival was included in the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition publication “Food People &Planet. Sharing responsibilities for a more sustainable tomorrow”produced for Milano Expo 2015
The Festival is among the promoters of:
Launched in early 2018 with FIDAF, Passinsieme association and a group of researchers, professors and professonists interested in the dynamics underway in the agri-food sector, which the objective to promote a process of collective reflection on the relationships between science and society, involving all the stakeholders of the food system, ie knowledge builders, economic operators, knowledge mediators, decision makers, civil society. More than a hundred stakeholders have joined the ODA, including representatives of public and private bodies, as well as ordinary citizens: www.fidaf.it/index.php/osservatorio-dialogo-nell-agroalimentare/
International project on the enhancement of ancient Mediterranean theaters and festivals, included by the Italian Governament in the programming of the 5 + 5 of the Mediterranean, with the Italian coordination of RIDE-APS.
collocated near Rome, the largest agricultural municipality in Europe. Launched in 2019 at the Botanical Garden of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, in an event attended by the Castelli Romani Park, representatives of local administrations, producers, consumers and major national associations such as Federbio, Aiab, WWF , Isde, Biodynamic, Wigwam and international organizations, such as Ifoam, Inner, Navdanya International, the Cerealia Festival Network and, on a regional level, Legambiente and Federconsumatori. The driving force behind this initiative is the coordination of producers carrying out rural business activities and the citizens, who gave life to the experience of the Farmers Markets of Rome, Castelli Romani and the Metropolitan City, capable of involving thousands of consumers and hundreds of producers over the years, creating a flywheel for an alternative, sustainable and eco-compatible development and at the same time enhancing the resources of the territory.
In January 2020 M.Th.I. has signed a cooperation protocol with the UNPLI (National Union of the Italian Pro Loco) to promote cultural activities to be carried out in synergy within the Festival.