“The essence is not what remains once the superfluous has been discarded, but it is what gives meaning to everything; it is like salt in pasta: even if you do not see it, you can taste it.” This is what Emmanuele Forlani from Rimini, who has been General Director of the Meeting Foundation since 2019, said in commenting on the title of the edition now about to open its doors to its public: “If we are not after the essence, then what are we after?” “I am beginning this week with a lot of curiosity and with the enthusiasm to rediscover, once again, what is essential for me.”

As we interviewed him, the year-long journey leading to a new edition of the Meeting had practically come to an end: the intense work discussing the content of the meeting with the speakers, the close dialogue with partners and suppliers. And the tireless work of the five hundred pre-Meeting volunteers has been going on for days, who, right now, are finishing setting up exhibitions, spaces and services. They will then hand over to the 2,500 volunteers who will explain those exhibitions, bring life to those spaces, and serve those who are about to cross the threshold of the Rimini Fair.

“I am grateful that, from a certain point of view, there is almost no interruption in my work, in the dialogue with speakers, partners, suppliers and volunteers,” Forlani explains. “Of course, each area has its own specific peculiarities, but for every person, myself first, the Meeting is always an opportunity to get to the bottom of the proposal that it has always represented, for everyone. And I am very lucky to be able to work there.”

As General Director, Forlani has a privileged point of view on the Meeting as a place of friendship, meeting and dialogue since the 1980s, when it was animated by that first group of friends united by the common Christian experience. The Meeting for friendship among peoples, which, from the very beginning, has bet on something that is certainly essential: “The desire and passion that every person has in their heart, that desire – we read in its mission – for beauty, truth, justice that Fr. Luigi Giussani, the founder of the Communion and Liberation movement, called elementary experience, common ground for meeting and dialogue.” It is a place, perhaps unique, where today we can experience “how the experience of the lived Christian faith is capable of encountering and valorizing every human attempt that collaborates positively in the destiny of every person.”



This is the Meeting’s unique identity, with which those who animate the life of the Meeting as well as those who encounter it, as expected guests or simple visitors, cannot help but come across and compare themselves: “In my daily life, the search for the essence is never a search within a doubt, an unknown – confirms Forlani –, but it is a search that has a certainty within it. May this be essential for living, which not only exists, but which we have had the grace to be able to encounter here.” And he adds: “It is a beautiful challenge to see how it can manifest itself again within the organization of the Meeting, in each of the different aspects of its complex organizational machine.”

It is because of this fidelity to the origin that the Meeting has been able, over the years, to become that “platform for dialogue” that Italy – secular and believing, institutional and of the people, of civil society as well as of the Church – recognizes it to be. Forlani confirms this, but he adds a particular emphasis: “What makes it so unique is precisely its history, its identity, because there are many events like the Meeting, events and areas that can be defined as ‘platforms for dialogue’, and they are often neutral or without their own identity. However, if the Meeting were to lose this connection, it would cease to be itself as well as a dialogue platform.”

Here also lies the basis of the possibility of innovation and evolution, both in regards to the new contents of meetings, exhibitions and shows each year (plus the Arenas whose program is organized «in autonomy, but in continuity with the Meeting’s program»), and, concludes Forlani,with regard to the services offered: “For example, this year, we have tried to improve the organization of the spaces, which have increased compared to 2023, to ensure greater comfort. Each pavilion will have its own easily accessible refreshment point. And we have chosen to concentrate exhibitions in the West part of the Fair, while the Children’s Village and Sports Village will be in the East area. This will facilitate movement in a more orderly and easy way."

Read also - Towards the Meeting: In search of the essence

Finally, there are also some new features on app that allow access to the Meeting, which confirms the event’s commitment to not exclude anyone: "You will, in fact, be able to insert the QR Code into the wallet of your smartphone; or for those who are less familiar with phones, you can generate a QR code on the Meeting website that can be printed and brought with you. Thanks to the invaluable support of our volunteers at the info point and help desks, everyone will be able to find a way to enter. We are waiting for you!"#TowardstheMeeting24