Meetings, proposals, ideas and projects. BIT 2020 presents itself as a great opportunity to increase the range of buyers interested in our territory. Pollino to be lived all year round is the experiential proposal brought by the Borghi Mediterranei tourist consortium to the Fair. The consortium, led by Gianluca Colaci, has gathered the adhesion of twenty municipalities and several tourist operators to present a rich offer of attractions to the international buyers present at the Fair. A large network of collaborations between the various operators who, by adhering to the Borghi Mediterranei project, are building an innovative hospitality proposal centred on slow and sustainable tourism. It is on this occasion that Borghi Mediterranei wished to emphasise the importance of networking by involving not only the private sector but also the public administration to create lasting development opportunities.

Memo Srl, the consortium's exclusive tour operator, will produce tourist packages dedicated to the South. Exceptional testimonials are actors Marco Mazzocca and Stefano Sancinelli, with whom Memo is launching an experiential show tour of Southern Italy mainly aimed at a US and Canadian clientele.
In this context, the importance of Lovesouthitaly.it, a unique tourism portal that aims to tell the story of experiences, food and wine, villages and events in Southern Italy as never before.
The portal, which is constantly being improved, as well as doing territorial storytellingIt makes the beauties of Southern Italy accessible through the sale of packages and services to a national and international audience; it also digitally promotes the municipalities and companies that are members of the public-private network conceived by Gianluca Colaci, offering a modern and innovative vision of our regions and their tourism potential.

A long route of 955 kilometres divided into 44 convenient stages to lead the visitor straight to the heart of the most authentic Calabria. Among cliff-top paths, ancient villages, Greek and Albanian language minorities, art, history and faith of one of the most fascinating regions of the South. After 14 years of study and 8 months of work, the Basilian Way starting with Rocca Imperialeat the northernmost tip of the region, accompanies the traveller to Reggio Calabriathe toe of the boot.

A route in which each stage is designed to be tackled in a day's trekking that, like the more famous Camino de Santiago, will allow you to touch the thousand faces of a land that is truly worth touring far and wide.

At the end of each stage (there is also an extended version that envisages 56 days of walking) castles, monasteries, bed and breakfasts and scattered hotels will be ready to welcome the traveller who has chosen to experience the rhythm of the communities touched by the itinerary. Soon the GPS track of the Basilian Way will be downloadable and consultable through a website that will allow the traveller to learn more about each stage and to have more information on the facilities where it will be possible to find board and lodging. This was announced by the project leader, Carmine Lupiaformer director of the Valli Cupe.

The starting point of the Calabrian itinerary is Rocca Imperiale, the charming medieval town overlooking the Ionian Sea and known for the cultivation of the Igp lemon, and it winds along the ridge involving the municipalities of Canna, Nucara, Santa Maria degli Antropici, Oriolo, Alessandria del Carretto, Cerchiara Calabra and the mountain hermitage of Santa Maria delle Armi to the village of Civitain the heart of the Pollino National Park and the Raganello Gorge nature reserve. From there we continue via Cassano at Jonio, Terranova da Sibari, Corigliano Rossano, Paludi, Longobucco, Ortiano and Bocchigliero.

A Bellthe next stop, they will be able to admire live the Giants of Invallicata, megaliths that have the unmistakable shapes of an elephant and a warrior. From there we enter the heart of the most unspoilt Sila with stops in the municipalities of Umbriatico, Verzino, Savelli, Castel Silano, San Giovanni in Fiorein the area of Lake Ampollino, Mount Gariglione and in Buturo. The march through the nature of Calabria will then continue through Sersale, Sellia Superiore, Zagarise, Catanzaro, Tiriolo, San Floro and Squillacenot too far from the enchanting Costa degli Aranci, which has nothing to envy from tropical destinations.

The Basilian Way will stop, again, in San Vito allo Jonio, Cardinale, Serra San Bruno, Ferdinandea, Bivongi, Stilo, Pazzano, Caulonia, Mammola, Martone, Gioiosa and Gerace. In the standard variant you go from Ardore, Bovalino Superiore, Casignana, Samo, Africo, Gallicianò, Condofuri Superiore, Santuario delle Cappelle, San Lorenzo, Bagaladi and through the picturesque hamlet of Pentedattilowith its decidedly atypical conformation, in the municipality of Melito Porto Salvo. The last three days of the Basilian Way will be dedicated, respectively, to Fortezza San Niceto, Motta San Giovanni and Reggio Calabria.

The oldest masked festival in Calabria or the Castrovillari Carnival does not stop in the year of the pandemic. In keeping with the tradition that for 63 years has seen the Pollino town celebrate the masked festival that originates from the 1600s dialect farce Organtino by Caesar Quintana, the event adapts to the times of Covid 19 and puts the 'masquerade' to its guiding character, turning into a talk to be lived commandingly in the living room, rather than in the street. Thus the appointments that have always characterised the masked festival organised by the Pollin Pro Locoor in collaboration with the Municipality of Castrovillariwill take place online or through the broadcasting of three regional broadcasting stations (Calabriasona - Mediasud and Tele Tebe) that have given the availability of broadcasting some formats free of charge. It starts Thursday 11 February at 18:00 with the coronation of Carnival King and the Traditional Serenades while watching comfortably in your armchair, in your living room at home, the live broadcasts through the facebook pages Carnevale di Castrovillari - Pro Loco di Castrovillari - or on the digital platforms www.italiacable.it and www.calabriasat.it, or through the website www.carnevalecastrovillari.it. Sunday 14 February at 2.30 p.m, the first major parade with interviews and images from past editions while Monday 15 February at 21.00the best of the Grand Gala of Folklore from 2008 to 2020 in a kaleidoscope of memories and evocative moments of the people who visited the Pollino town during Carnival. Tuesday 16 February at 14.30, Carnival closing with interviews and images from past editions, and the Carnival King's Bonfire. All this,' emphasised the president of the city's Pro Loco, Eugenio Iannelli, and the artistic director, Gerardo Bonifati, 'while waiting for everything to return to normal as soon as possible, so that we can be numerous in the square, close together, to admire the alchemy of Carnival in amazement'.