Dancing in the Streets-the Cortona Mix Festival

After much anticipation, the details of the 2013 Cortona Mix Festival were unveiled a few days ago. Some of the events will include pop group Elio e Le Storie Tese and musician, Max Weinberg, cortonese citizen and historic member of the E Street Band, plus many more. The website seems to be updated often and new names and events added. www.mixfestival.it    It is new and exciting and we're looking to see what unfolds.
   
At closing day of Cortona Mix Festival last year , facts and figures were in and evaluation of the success of the event was made on the streets, in the stores, in the newspapers. It is said that there was an attendance of 10,000 visitors and sales of some 4,000 tickets to the various events. It was hard when examining the first bits of news about the program what the aim and purpose of Cortona mix was. Feltrinelli later published on its site that CORTONA MIX FESTIVAL represents a different idea of festival, and I paraphrase: a event created to banish the isolation of the arts and instead celebrate their mix, their richness and variety and invent new inspiration by bringing them together. If this was the goal, then I have to say it was a success. Street musicians, ballet, jazz, classical music, literary events and cinema. Even politics had its place (as it always seems to in Italy) when the Minister of Labor, Elsa Fornero came to speak to a very agitated crowd, as her role in recent dramatic labor law reforms render her a controversial figure. The people participated, Cortonese and non-Cortonese alike. In most cases it was by happenstance that people participated, but people were engaged. Feltrinelli opened a satellite bookstore well furnished with books both in Italian and other languages. It was enriching on many levels.
But more than anything else, people were present and participating. The squares were buzzing with activity, the town came alive. On the heels of the Cortona Mix Festival was a series of concerts organized by Gli Amici della Musica and the Annual International Folk Dance Festival all riding out the wave of the excitement created by the previous events. It was Cortona at it's best-people out and about, enjoying the city and maybe gathering some food for thought.
Probably one of the events which was most enjoyed by all was the projection of Modern Times with Charlie Chaplin with original accompanying music performed live by the Orchestra Regionale della Toscana.  A delightful event for young and old.
This year, they are proposing a similar event with the projection in the square of Metropolis by Friz Lang.
Last year's  festival was accessible to many and this I hope will continue to be the spirit of this event. Nothing was more touching than to see many of our aspiring ballerinas have the possibility to attend an event with family, dance in the audience as they watched enthralled and maybe their parents understood a little better what passion for the art of dancing could become.
Welcome back Cortona Mix Festival- show us how to dream!

Everything Changes

2012 has brought some surprises and they'll definitely be some shaking up this summer. We have had confirmation that the Tuscan Sun Festival has moved on to a new home in Florence where they hope to find a larger public for their world class talent. The Comune of Cortona was left with a space to fill, as there are many lovers of the arts here and they have decided to collaborate with publishing house Feltrinelli in creating an arts festival in Cortona from July 31 to August 5th, however these are the only details we've been given. Rumors of the participation of Bob Dylan?! We shall see. In light of the latest cuts in Italian government funding to comuni (counties), laws were adopted for comune to collect an "imposte di soggiorno" or "tassa di soggiorno" to help replace lost funds. This hotel room tax or tourism tax has existed for a long time in many places in Italy, Europe and large cities around the world, and as of April 15th, 2012 it will be in effect in Cortona. Basically, the comune has passed a law which delegates all hospitality owners to collect on their behalf a "tourism tax" which is calculated on the category of accomodation, the number of guests and number of nights spent at the accomodation. Casa Chilenne is classified as a "affittacamera non professionale" and therefore, the charge will be 1.50 Euro/guest/night for the first 4 nights. This tax will be levied on Italians and non-Italian visitors alike, with a few exemptions for children, group travel personnel, persons travelling for medical treatment and local residents, if you would like more clarification please feel free to contact us at info@casachilenne.com

There was a very small window of time between the official confirmation of this new tax, the first official letter being written on March 27 and the second updated tax rate schedule written on April 2.

Our nightly rates have always included all taxes and we will include this new tax as well. We will not request additional payment from our guests nor inconvenience our guests by insisting that the "imposta di soggiorno" be paid in cash. Your full bill may still be paid by cash or major credit card. We will issue a receipt for this city tax and we will be expected to turn it over to the city every 3 months. Luciano and I have decided that this is the right thing to do for this year and we will re-evaluate at the end of 2012. It is said that change brings opportunity to rise to new challenges, adapt, evolve and become better. We appreciate the love that so many have expressed for Cortona and we hope that we will welcome back our guests and their family and friends for many years to come.