The League saves the vecia, the Panevin and the other traditional bonfires:“Stop environmentalist controversies”

The League rejoices in the bonfire-saving amendment, which has kept the traditional bonfires of the Befana and other deeply rooted rites especially in Veneto and Lombardy out of the ban:"Environmentalist exasperations have often hindered the organisation, now stop the controversies"

VENICE – Historic bonfires saved by the anti-smog crackdown.“Brusar la vecia, a centuries-old Paduan and Venetian tradition that must not be lost with the excuse of pollution and smog“.And therefore "the League did well to include and approve, within the law, which received the green light yesterday from the Chamber, 'on safeguarding historical re-enactment events and of the intangible cultural heritage', the amendment which now allows, by law, the organization of traditional bonfires", applauds the Padua regional councilor Giulio Centenaro (Lega-Liga veneta) from Veneto, thinking precisely of the all-Venetian tradition of bonfires at night of the Epiphany.

“THIS ARE ANCIENT TRADITIONS PROTECTED”

THE'bonfire-saving amendment it is due "to our Northern League deputy, Gianangelo Bof from Treviso", co-signatory together with Erik Pretto from Vicenza (first signatory, the Lombard Northern League member Fabrizio Cecchetti).“In this way ancient traditions are protected which the League, as our president, Luca Zaia, has always supported, wants to be handed down. Environmentalist exasperations have often hindered the organization.With this amendment, a part of our cultural heritage and identity of the territory is preserved, protected by a law", states Centenaro.

“RATE THAN LOSING A TRADITION, IT'S BETTER TO BURN A COUNTRY”

“It's true that losing a tradition is better than burning a country', our elders said, and finally a bit of popular wisdom has also arrived down in Rome in Parliament", adds the Treviso regional councilor of the Venetian Lega-Liga Roberto Bet.on the amendment approved in the Chamber to the law 'on the protection of historical re-enactment events and intangible cultural heritage'.The legal approval for the organization of traditional bonfires is "a recognition that we have been waiting for for a long time to definitively put an end to the controversies that fill the newspapers every year in early January".

THE PANEVIN

The traditional 'Panevin' burned on the night between 5 and 6 January "have an archaic origin:it is an ancient rite that marks the end of winter and the beginning of light.Over the centuries it has also been reinterpreted with Christian meanings;it remains that it has been repeated for millennia and is still deeply felt by our communities.These bonfires come before our Republic, as I declared years ago as mayor of Codognè: the 'Panevin' is not authorized, it is made, because 'it comes before our system and our laws, it is an ancestral rite'”, says Bet.With the amendment approved in the Chamber, "thanks to the League and in particular to our parliamentarian Bof - concludes Bet - the State finally recognizes these traditions and frees them from all the regulations and laws that have followed one another over time. The value of these traditions is protected today and I hope the definitive approval of the law will be reached soon."

THE BONFER OF SANT'ANTONIO, THE GIUBIANA OR THE GINÈE

It is also celebrated in Lombardy:we overcome "the critical issues of the legislation that has often hindered these bonfires", says the group leader of the League in the Lombardy Region, Alessandro Corbetta. “Ancestral customs are protected still very widespread today throughout Lombardy, as the bonfire of Sant'Antonio, the Giubiana or the Ginèe, which they represent the transition between winter and spring but they are also a symbol of good omen, especially for the work in the fields of farmers and peasants".And he concludes:“A great victory in defense of centuries-old traditions for which we must thank the parliamentarians of the League, in particular Fabrizio Cecchetti and Stefano Candiani, always in the front row to defend our cultural and identity heritage, in the face of those who often put a spoke in the wheels of these beautiful events in the name of distorted environmentalist ideologies or, worse, wants to trample on and erase our history and our roots."

(Photo from Wikipedia)