Date:09/11/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/11/09/stories/2005110902440800.htm

Back Bid to sell Brand Italy

Our Bureau

Mumbai , Nov. 8

THE fourth edition of Festa Italiana, the annual lifestyle and cultural festival organised by the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IICCI), will for the first time bring in a football team from AC Milan.

The famous Italian club will send its under-18 team, which will play a friendly match against a line-up of celebrities at the Bombay Gymkhana here, before travelling to Kolkata to play against a local team.

Besides sports, the festival will include a number of new events such as an exhibition on architecture and design, an exhibition of Italian lighting, an Espresso week to be organised at Mocha outlets across the city, besides cookery classes, and a music programme by a soloist trio from La Scala.

The fortnight-long festival, which opens on November 20, will kick off with a fashion show by designers Gianfranco Ferre and Trussardi, on board the aircraft carrier, Vikrant.

The festival will also take some events to the other metros; Trussardi is to hold a show at Bangalore and Ferre at Delhi.

A seminar on architecture and interior design and a film festival are scheduled at Chennai, while an Italian music evening is to be held at Kolkata.

Dr Andrea Bonardi, Secretary General, IICCI, said the festival would help strengthen Indo-Italian relations and build awareness of the Brand Italy in India.

Austrian Airlines, Forbes Gokak, Thomas Cook and Panerai (a brand of time-pieces) are among the partners associated with organising the festival.