It may seem like a contradiction in terms but the phrase “tradition we make ourselves” comes to mind this morning as the week-long annual GVS Solidarity week, now in its 25th year, came to a fitting and colourful climax this morning with a parade led by the drummers and flag throwers of the Gallicano Sbandieratori who marched from the Fosso down to the site of the “Friendship Games” in Piazzale Matteotti in Barga Giardino.
Along the way local schools joined the various participants from groups and voluntary associations around the province on the march with banners, flags and coloured balloons.
A message of friendship attached to some of the brightly coloured helium filled balloons was launched into what was for a change this year, a clear blue sky – maybe we are far enough away from the sea to not think about any dolphins choking on those balloons when they come down ?
Solidarity (according to Wikipedia) is unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards.It refers to the ties in a society that bind people together as one. The term is generally employed in sociology and the other social sciences.
What forms the basis of solidarity varies between societies. In simple societies it may be mainly based around kinship and shared values. In more complex societies there are various theories as to what contributes to a sense of social solidarity.
Solidarity week 2007 | 2009 | 2011 | 2012 |2013