Two hearts and a merry-go-round

at the foot of the Dolomites

Annalisa Dolzan

Jugglers, acrobats and fire-eaters; magicians, swindlers… fairs and festivals have been displaying an outdoor dream made of lights, sounds and scents since before the Middle-Ages. And still nowadays the events, with their festivals and fairgrounds, are able to keep us away from the shopping centres for at least one day.
It is the 26th of December 2008. It was long time ago when I used to pull on my mum’s sleeve to get some candy floss or another ride on the merrygo-round. So much time has gone by that today the owners are no longer called «merry-go-round operators» but «travelling entertainment managers». Just like the Gregori family, who I am going to visit. Not just a common family: they are a dynasty. Generations and oceans link them to the Zamperla family, the worldwide leader in the field of «amusement business». Manuel Gregori, while working on his amusement ride, finds the time to lead me through the story of his family. His grandfather, who came from Margone, above Vezzano, joined the organization for love, sharing his destiny with a Zamperla woman, who had been «brought up on grass and stone».
The same had happened to his father, who used to work as a decorator in Romagnano but did not hesitate to change his lifestyle for love. Therefore Manuel was born into a family of merry-go-round operators, and was only a child when his father introduced him to the trade. A common practice in this world. A world in which families are still big and united.Manuel tells me that each family have their own peculiarity – for example the Gregoris are crazy but talented. He once had an uncle who had become rich, many years ago, dealing in horses. He had bought as many as 200 but eventually ended up bankrupt. Only few of the large fairground families have survived. Among them the Zamperlas, the Cavalieres, the Orlandos. And the Faccios, Manuel’s wife’s family: an outstanding family boasting «great men», this is how they call them in their jargon – that is wealthy yet hard-working. Men who have defended their category. In fact nomadic entertainers have no easy life. Let’s just consider the expenses: flat rate electricity supply in town costs € 190/per month against a € 70 actual consumption; pay-per-use rates are not applicable. Exceptional load road transport fees must be paid to circulate on the roads. And, according to law, they can only stop on areas reserved to circuses, itinerant amusement and caravans. Some Municipalities even expect the managers to buy the land they occupy only 3 months a year. And what about the crisis? Amusement Park, Roller Coaster, Tagada... modern names for a hectic/fast, electronic, bright lifestyle. But many of them nowadays miss out more than one ride. Several important Italian pleasure parks have closed down, like Bologna’s and Verona’s. The others struggle to survive. Just think of Genoa and Perugia. And Trento, which gathers a «settled community» of itinerant amusement traders and is active for traditional festivals and village fairs. But, in spite of strenuous/hard life and difficulties, it is hard to leave the caravans. Manuel’s friends and relatives who have settled down terribly miss their former situation and are not satisfied. Nomadic life complications do not run short. Manuel’s wife gives us an example, recalling that that as a child she used to attend 8 different schools a year: it was hard to keep up with the curriculum. Indeed, not only the curriculum was variable, but friends, too: each time a new class. At the beginning she was the new schoolmate at the centre of attention but then she would be quickly neglected. Sometimes teachers even referred to her as «the gypsy». The door of the golden trailer – «caravan», is what they call it – closes behind me. I leave Manuel and his family ready to set off for a new site the morning after. I might meet them again next December, or maybe even next summer at a village festival.

Freely taken from F. Casorati
Antony Fachin illustrations

THE ROUNDABOUT

A boy passes on a white horse,
Followed by another on a baby elephant,
Then two girls on a swan
And a bear, without companion…
The roundabout turns…
The lights sparkle…
Flashes of blue, green, yellow, red and purples
Light up the children’s faces
… but one small girl cries, all alone.
She didn’t get on. She missed this turn.
She has to wait to climb
Onto the fine rabbit, which she sees passing again…
While the music entices, turns the roundabout…
Passes life.

M. Antonietta Rotter (2008)