COVID-19 closes Italy’s cultural attractions and events

ROME — Italy has shut down most of its cultural attractions and events to curb the spread of COVID-19.

All of the country’s more than 4,500 museums have been closed, as have many theaters, cinemas, concert halls and galleries, since the national lockdown began on March 10.

Yet some of the country’s mostcelebrated cultural sites are impossible to close.

“Cities like Rome, Florence and Venice are like open-air museums available to anyone passing by,” says Patrizia Asproni, president of the museum-operators association, ConfCultura.

But even sites such as the Coliseum in Rome, Ponte Vecchio in Florence and St. Mark’s Square in Venice are mostly deserted, since tourism has ceased and residents are ordered to stay home aside from essential activities.

“The floods in Venice last November cost us 3 million euros ($3.26 million), and now this lockdown has already cost us another 8 million euros in lost ticket sales,” says Fortunato Ortombina, superintendent and artistic director of the famed La Fenice opera house in Venice.

“Nobody has any idea how long this will last. But the financial damage will be significant.”

Ortombina vows that La Fenice will continue to emphasize its productions’ quality.

But he points out that opera houses, theaters and cinemas “were among the first institutions to close under the quarantine and (will be) among the last to reopen, just because they require the audience to be so close to each other.”

The Stromboli Eco-Logical Theater Fest faces a similar situation, artistic director Alessandro Fabrizi says.

The event held on Stromboli, a small volcanic island off southern Italy’s coast, is scheduled to take place in June.

“We set ourselves a deadline to decide whether to cancel or not by

April 20,” Fabrizi says.

Fabrizi says the event is important to the economy of the island, which has only about 500 permanent residents.

Like Venice, which was already reeling from the impact of last year’s floods when the lockdown orders were issued, Stromboli saw two volcanic eruptions last year, the first of which left one hiker dead.

“We’re still holding out hope that we can hold the festival in late June, but it seems unlikely,” Fabrizi says.

“Like everyone in Italy, we are doing our best to adapt to this new reality we are faced with.”

Another summer event organizers hope will still take place is the Ischia Global Fest. The event, which regularly attracts top Hollywood talent to the island of Ischia off the coast of Naples, is scheduled for July.

“So far, not too much has changed, but we are keeping a close watch on what is happening,” says founder Pascal Vicedomini.

“We will decide in mid-May, which is when we should start to send out the invitations to actors, directors and producers.”

The festival usually screens around 70 films a year. With distribution channels mostly paused and most cinemas around the world closed, Vicedomini says that even if the festival takes place as planned, the outbreak could influence this year’s lineup.

“We’ll find a way to make things work out,” he says.

“In Italy, we always find a way.”

We’ll find a way to make things work out. In Italy, we always find a way.” Pascal Vicedomini, founder of Ischia Global Fest