As we move into September, the weather changes and we start to think about the coming autumn but just before we do there is still time to say one of two things about the high point of this summer which was undoubtedly the Barga Jazz Festival 2012.
Although the Jazz Festival has been running for 25 years at it would appear that this year it finally starts to get the recognition it deserves.
2012 can probably be marked down on the calendar as the start of the Barga Jazz Festival v 2.0.
While the rest of Europe and Italy in particular are suffering from the worst recession in generations, here in Barga thanks, in part, to the Jazz Festival the city actually had many more visitors this summer – tourism is booming at a time where in the rest of the province of Lucca and Tuscany as a whole, numbers were falling.
Have a listen to the interview ( in Italian) at the end of this article recorded during the festival with a visitor from Paris, France who came specifically to see for herself just what the festival was all about, enjoyed every minute of it and will no doubt be back next year.
She showed a certain persistence in wanting to be part of this years festival as she arrived via train to Mologno thinking she had arrived at Barga. The station was closed, the information office was shut and so was the bar outside in the piazza.
Unable to find out just where Barga actually was or how to get it she took the first train out of the station and spent the night in Livorno before once again returning to Mologno the following morning – this time finding people around who could direct her to Barga.
Well done Illaria, your persistence paid off and we hope to see you again next year.