“Non-violence should not be preached.
It should be practiced”, said Gandhi. It is to underline the importance of this message that, from 3 April to 16 May 2008, the Banquet of People for Peace will come back.
The event, every two years, with its 4th edition deals with the difficult and necessary theme of non-violence.
The Banquet, sponsored by the Municipality of Riccione and by the assessorship for Peace, in collaboration with the Province of Rimini and the municipalities of Rimini, Cattolica, Misano Adriatico, Coriano and about twenty institutions that are active in the territory, will involve intellectuals, operators and ordinary people of every race and age.
Seven weeks and thirty meetings to give voice to people who, in a non-violent and active way, are fighting against oppression.
Through round tables, exhibitions, theatre performances, concerts, documentaries, workshops, films, the debate will take shape.
The big programme of the event will take place in different locations of four cities: Riccione, Misano, San Giovanni in Marignano and Rimini.
To underline the importance of operating in our own small way, the Banquet proposes concrete examples of non-violence applied to the economy, religion, law and politics, education.
Examples where listening and dialogue, creativity and awareness are the main weapons to oppose the aggressiveness that breaks the social tissue.
The central day is Saturday, May 10 for the feast of the Banquet of people, at the Palazzo del Turismo di Riccione and in the square in front, with the final dinner offered to all and a world of dance that joyously will hit our senses and will bring a message of hope to everybody.
Riccione Hotels will be happy to accommodate the participants of the Banquet and to give them a comfortable environment where they will be able to reflect on how to become messengers of peace.
If, to paraphrase a proverb, between preaching and practice there is always the sea, the Banquet of People for Peace 2008 is a crucial event for people who would begin, or is already trying to row in the waters of non-violence.