Lonato Fair Revitalization: New Committee, Regulation, and Challenges

The Lonate Regional Fair is searching for its lost identity. To restore the event to its former glory, the Municipal Administration has decided to completely overhaul the approach. This has led to the abolition of the existing regulation in favor of a new one. The new measures have received approval but also heavy criticism, particularly concerning the compensation planned for the leaders—namely the president, director, and secretary.

Let’s take a look at the decisions. They were presented to the City Council by Paolo Marcoli, the Councilor for Commerce and Tourism. “We intend to bring the fair back to its past splendor. To do this, we plan to return to organizing it through a committee of Lonate residents who have experience, dedication, are well-known in town, and are trusted. No more outsourcing the organization, which has caused deficits,” he stated.

The councilor recalled that in 1999, the creation of the fair cost 110 million lire and resulted in a deficit of 127 million; in 2000, expenses rose to 125 million, with a deficit of 165 million. The committee will consist of 8 members (including three from minority groups), in addition to the president and the director.

Regulation and Compensation

The regulation stipulates that the committee will serve a one-year term. It must approve the program, budget, and assign tasks to its members for the different sectors of the fair. As for remunerations, the president and director may receive a monthly allowance not exceeding that allocated to a non-vice mayoral councilor. This is a functional allowance which, at most, could be around 2.5 million lire per month.

Members of the committee will instead receive a token fee for each meeting, equal to the amount paid to municipal councilors, i.e., 43,000 gross lire. “I share the idea of returning to the old spirit,” stated Roberto Tardani of Forza Italia. “It’s a good idea; unfortunately, I am convinced that it will not be possible to revive the glory days of the agricultural fair. It will be difficult to recover lost time and opportunities: there are no facilities; we can no longer use schools as before. And with the salaries planned, we risk starting immediately with an outlay of 100 million. We should find Lonate residents willing to work and commit, but for now, only expense reimbursements are foreseen,” he added.

Proposals and Conclusions

Professor Ugo Ughi criticized the regulation, calling it a tool that risks turning the event into a “sham” with mechanisms designed to funnel money to certain individuals, potentially creating another bureaucratic project. The League representative suggested relying instead on well-functioning groups already active in Lonato, such as the Mercantico Committee, the monthly antique market.

The opposition councilor Oscar Papa instead urged the presentation of a concrete project for the fair. The new regulation was approved, and in the coming days, the Municipal Executive will proceed with the appointment of the committee tasked with the challenging goal of revitalizing Lonato’s main event, which has been taking place for over 40 years around January 17, centered on agriculture and related equipment.