OUR HISTORY
Succede solo a Bologna was born on the 9th September 2010 and it was legally established on the 21th of February 2011 by its founder member. From 2012 it was registered in LFA and APS (Associazione promozione Sociale) lists.
We are a Non-profit, apolitical, non-partisan, and secular cultural association with the goal of enhancing and promoting the cultural, artistic, and architectural heritage of Bologna, both as a city and as a province.
Our purpose: to rediscover, preserve, and promote the cultural heritage of Emilia Romagna’s capital and much more. From its dialect and history, to its customs and culinary traditions. From its art and architecture, to its monuments, music, and more. All done through a specific local marketing strategy that includes events, guided tours, publications, research projects, and other local projects..
We believe that all local culture and folklore should be preserved and shared, especially that of the city and its surrounding areas. We believe in expanding the general knowledge of this culture and folklore as it relates to music, literature, art, architecture, and history through research projects, social contact, organizations, and associations. We believe we can spread our love for Bologna to all its inhabitants and those who wish to keep its traditions alive.
As an association, and in collaboration with third parties, we aim to promote, organize, and manage events that support our mission. These events include exhibitions, shows, festivals, meetings, concerts, musical activities in general, tourist activities, experimental projects, and local promotional activities. In particular, our purpose is to take charge of the planning, organization, and management of local marketing, as well as promotion through both printed and audiovisual materials, including videos and anything else that is relevant to our social target.
We create and organize about 25 events each year, ranging from recreational activities, such as Strabologna and Fotorama, to more serious events, such as the GUIDO ZUCCHI Literary Contest, as well as more than 20 types of guided tours. Additionally, our association carries our civil initiatives related to the city and province, such as: Sgura Bulåggna, Bologna and Music, Social Live Tour, Guided Tours in LIS (Italian Sign Language), University Research, and #WelcomeToBologna for the promotion of the territory.
After years of being featured in the newspaper Il Resto del Carlino and the local television channel 7Gold, we now also have a radio show on the local station Radio San Luchino. Moreover, we have published 8 books which are available in bookstores as well as through our social networks. With these various media channels, we provide information about events in Bologna and share articles related to the history and culture of the city.
After nearly eight years of activity, we have built a team of 54 people (including 30 volunteers) who work every day to create new events, as well as our associate group, which currently includes more than 2600 participants, and the numerous members who have joined our social network.
Succede solo a Bologna was officially invited by EXPO 2015 to talk about tourism and local marketing, with an own stand for a week.
In 2013 we won the prize BOLOGNA CITTA’ CIVILE E BELLA, recognizing us as the association that has been most involved in the care and promotion of the city.
Some of our main projects:
– Io Sostengo San Petronio (2016)
The Basilica of San Petronio, an independent monument that doesn’t belong to either the Curia or the City of Bologna, required some internal and external restoration work. This project was born as a fundraising campaign lasting 12 months (January 2016 – January 2017), with the aim of completing these works. The project involved the restoration of the central nave, the sidewalls, some of the 22 chapels, and the front of the apse facing Piazza Galvani. The project was a success, resulting in the collection of €206,165 and exceeding the previously set target of €200,000.
– Welcome To Bologna (#WelcomeToBologna)
Born in 2013 with the aim of promoting Bologna’s culture, values, and traditions in an original and appealing way for young people, our project combines marketing with the rediscovery of the local dialect and the main monuments of the city through customized packaging.
Here is what we have achieved to date:
1.Il Bolognese per turisti: short lessons about the Bolognese dialect in small doses for tourists arriving at the Bologna Airport. Displayed in various locations around the terminal, each cartoon mini-video last two minutes and includes Italian-English-Bolognese translations as well as illustrations.
2. Bolognesità quotidiana e La Famiglia Bolognese:Majani’s chocolate boxes and bottles of Cerelia water have become the canvas for our Bolognese dialect marketing: the most important monuments of Bologna like “San Locca”, “San Petronio” and “Al Dau tarr” (The two towers) have been placed on water bottles, while dialect terms related to the family, such as “Al peder”(the father), “ La meder”(the mother), and “I Fili “(children), are on the boxes of chocolates.
3. #welcometobologna (at the highway exit for Bologna/San Lazzaro): an installation of our SkyLine, involving 6 panels representing the most important monuments in Bologna.
4. Bolognese: Our illustrations in Italian-English-Bolognese can be found on the sides, back windows, and receipts of COTABO Taxis.
A project lasting three years which focused on caring for the territory. Armed with broom and mops, we cleaned the streets of the city with hundreds of volunteers, earning us the prize BOLOGNA CITTÀ CIVILE E BELLA.
– Research projects – The census of Churches
A research project beginning in 2014 in partnership with DAPT and Centro Cherubino Ghirardacci focused on rediscovering the territory, starting with its churches.
– Social Live Tour (#SocialLiveTour)
This project is based on virtual tours which take advantage of social networks in order to allow people, no matter how far away, to experience an hour and a half tour through the streets of Bologna and discover its history, monuments, art, curiosities, and legends.
A series of guided tours which visit the main monuments and sites of Bologna, available for all types of hearing ability. The goal is to share our knowledge of Emilia Romagna’s capital through social integration while also promoting tourism, thus resulting in tours that the deaf and the hearing can enjoy together.
Some of our main events:
– Art in San Petronio for Art City White Night
For this special event, we organized a series of activities:
1.White Night of Art in San Petronio: Guided tours in the Basilica with special opening times from 8:00 pm to midnight.
2. Open Day at Nettuno (In collaboration with Bologna Welcome): open site and free access from 8pm to 12pm ;
3. The photo exhibition, Human Capital, with a visit to the Bell Ringers headquarters.
Discover the porticos of San Luca. From 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, the path leading from Meloncello up to the sanctuary is filled with events, music, and tastings for both adults and children. The third edition of the event was dedicated to the I Support San Petronio fundraiser.
– Bologna Mineral Show
This year our association is once again working with the International Trade Fair, with three days dedicated to the exhibition of minerals and jewels from all around the world.
On the day of Lucio Dalla’s birthday (the 4th of March) we remember this important Bolognese musician through his own music. Across all of Bologna and its province (and wherever else someone may wish to participate), we invite people to throw open their windows and play their favorite Lucio Dalla song out into the streets.
– Fotorama
Fotorama is a treasure hunt with teams roaming the streets of Bologna. Each team must contain 1 to 4 people, and each team must have a camera/smartphone/tablet to compete. Competitors receive instructions about where to find envelopes via our twitter account and Whatsapp. Once the teams have found the envelope, they will find clues inside that need to be solved within three hours. The first three teams to complete the challenge will win prizes. Registration is free, though each team has the opportunity to leave a donation in support of our project upon check-in.
During the spring and summer, donors and participants of “I Support San Petronio” have the opportunity to participate in our exclusive Happy Hours out on the San Petronio Terrace, including various themes: apéritifs, wine tastings with a sommelier, food tastings, and more.
Additionally, among our main activities:
We organize all kinds of guided tours: you can book individually or as a group and participate in one or more of the guided tours available on the calendar. We also give you the opportunity to propose the itinerary, day, time, and language of the guided tour.