Noand the next few months Bruce Springsteen will finally be back in concert in Italy. There are three appointments eagerly awaited by its public: May 18 in Ferrara, May 21 in Rome and July 25 in Monza. But for the first of these, the one at the Parco Urbano G. Bassani in Ferrara, there are some problems. As it proves a petition that just surpassed 43,000 signatures.
Environmentalists: The concert disturbs the ecosystem of the park
The Urban Park of Ferrara – dedicated to the memory of the famous writer Giorgio Bassani, strongly linked to the Este city – is a large green area which is included between the walls and the river Po. 1200 hectares of greenery which, in recent years, have hosted various events. From the Ferrara Balloon Festival to the International Kite Festival (Vulandra).
The news of the arrival of the Boss in concert in this area has greatly impressed the citizens, not used to considering the Urban Park as a place where you can host such an important event in terms of numbers and concentration on the territory.
A few days ago she arrived in the city council, in Ferrara, a petition calling for the Bruce Springsteen concert to be moved from the Urban Park. The “Save the park” committee asked – via a petition on the Change.org platform – to find a new venue for the May concert-event. Assuming the move to the south of the city, where the impact of the event on the environment would be less strong. Reference has been made to the area where the Ferrarese Volovelistico Aeroclub is located.
The request for this move had already arrived last June, when Bruce Springsteen’s appointment in Ferrara was announced. The “Save the park” committee, created at that time, had brought together environmentalist and animal rights associations from Ferrara. Beyond, of course, individual citizens.
The petition of the “Save the park” committee
The document of the Committee – which brings together various environmental associations – explains. «The Bassani urban park was conceived and built, right from its design, as a work of renaturalization of a hinge space between the urban area, the agricultural area and the river, with a vocation that does not lend itself to carrying out events with the characteristics of the one envisaged above”.
It’s still. «The concert venue could be seriously affectedespecially in case of bad weather, as regards the turf, the hygienic-environmental protection of the bodies of water and respect for the biodiversity of the ecological niche made up of the shrubby plant gallery, formed over the years along the ex-railway embankment Ferrara-Copparo, as well as for what concerns the sedentary and seasonal birds that nest».
Bruce Springsteen on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show on November 14, 2022. Credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
The petition it reached 43,000 signatures. “A large section of the historic walls, a UNESCO heritage site, would be potentially and dangerously involved in the event”. The municipal councilor of the mixed group, Anna Ferraresi, a determined environmentalist, had explained to Courier of Bologna. «Bassani is a lung and was the hunting lodge of the Estensi. Over the years, almost fifty, it was repopulated by avifauna and migratory birds, which nest in May». Which is precisely the month in which the people of the Boss should arrive.
The mayor confirms the concert in the G. Bassani park
The position of the mayor of Ferrara, Alan Fabbri, is clear. «Bassani Park was chosen precisely because of the peculiarities of the space. In the post-Covid era, the productions involved, both American and Italian, have preferred to choose a place where crowds cannot be created. Furthermore, the capacity will be about half of that for the similar Boss concerts in Rome and Monza».
Apparently, therefore, the arrival of the petition in the city council would not have led to any second thoughts. And the Bruce Springsteen concert would be confirmed at the Urban Park, in the former Este hunting estate. As was originally expected.
iO Woman © REPRODUCTION RESERVED