The gates of the Giorgio Bassani urban park in Ferrara, which will host the opening concert of Bruce Springsteen's tour in Italy, were opened five hours late. Only in the late morning came the green light of the Supervisory Commission, which had to wait for the organization to make the park land usable, flooded by the rains that hit the Region, fortunately without creating the disasters of nearby Romagna. The wait now is for the arrival of Springsteen on stage, in front of about 50 thousand spectators - perhaps someone less given the difficulties for many to reach Ferrara - at 19.30 pm.
After the gates opened, the influx to the concert area was immediately regular and quiet. Fans also come from abroad, some from Holland to celebrate the 40th
anniversary of the first concert seen in Rotterdam and try to deliver a rose to the "Boss", some from the far north of the Arctic Circle and for the first time also see the Renaissance city of Ferrara.
In the previous hours the controversy on social media had not stopped on the opportunity for the concert to be held regularly, despite the dramatic wave of bad weather that hit Emilia Romagna causing victims and damage. The organizers, however, immediately confirmed the appointment, also because the city is not in the red zone.
But many, even fans, have asked for it to be canceled. "I love #brucespringsteen but in front of the dead and the villages submerged in the mud the concert in Ferrara is out of tune. Once we went to shovel and help those who were submerged in the mud not to sing and dance carefree in the same area .#EmiliaRomagna", writes Tiziana Ferrario on Twitter. Holding the concert "is absurd, embarrassing. I understand a lot of motivations but the decision to confirm it is wrong", is the reflection of another user.
"They will reach #ferrara 50 thousand people for the concert of #brucespringsteen .. in a tormented region.. I wonder with what spirit they will sing loudly while a few kilometers away people have lost everything ... #iononcapisco how is the world postponing it, right?", someone asks. And there are those who go down hard asking for "respect for the victims".
Someone also calls into question the Minister of the Interior: "Piantedosi who uses an iron fist with the boys of a rave but who today does not cancel the concert of the Boss despite the deaths a few kilometers away, the blocked highways, the trains in difficulty, the civil protection engaged in the emergency ".
ANSA Agency
Bad weather in Emilia-Romagna, more flooding in the night in Ravenna. A meter of water in the center of Lugo - Chronicle
THE POINT - Bonaccini: 'Damages for a few billion'. Faenza wakes up in the mud and tries to start again. Dozens of roads closed or damaged by landslides or flooding in the province of Bologna. The F1 Imola Grand Prix was cancelled over the weekend. Tuesday 23 Cdm on the bad weather emergency. Nine victims and thousands of people evacuated (ANSA)
Bruce Springsteen's concert "given the enormous complexity, can not provide for postponements or cancellations after involving thousands of workers, and which sees thousands of tourists from all over the world converge in the city, who have bought a plane ticket, a hotel room for several days and have been organizing for some time to reach us", the mayor of Ferrara had written in response, Alan Fabbri, in a post on Facebook. "I am sorry - he added - if anyone may have thought that Ferrara has remained insensitive to the tragedy in Romagna just because he did not cancel the concert of the Boss. But I can assure you that, as a former mayor of Bondeno who experienced the 2012 earthquake on the front line, I never asked that Italy or the Region stop championships, events and production of companies in solidarity with us. First because it solves nothing, if not create other economic damage to territories, workers and companies that have invested large sums for the realization of the event, second because it is a level of demagogy that does not belong to me", he concludes.