Italy - Grandparents Day: Flowers against Loneliness
Our grandparents would take us by the hand when we were children, throughout our lives they have been our rocks, our compasses, our guides, our wisdom, our strength and consolation: it is not by chance that in Italy, as well as in other Countries, Grandparents Day falls on the 2nd October, the day that according to the catholic calendar is dedicated to the Guardian Angels.
A Difficult Year for our Elderly
In the past months COVID-19 has taken its toll: its appearance is confronting us with our frailties and the elderly are among those which carry the heaviest burden in these special and unique times. They have suffered from the lack of contact with their loved ones, and loneliness has grown dramatically among them.
For grandparents, not being able to enjoy the presence of their grandchildren has been unbearable: this year, more than ever, it is crucial that we fill their lives with warmth, colours, beauty, joy… and what better way to do it than using the language of flowers and plants?
The Promotional Campaign
This is why, for the first time in Italy they not only get one day dedicated to them, the Festa dei Nonni (Grandparents Day), but an entire week, the Settimana contro la Solitudine (Week against Loneliness), around which many events have already been and still will be organised in collaboration with flower growers, flower wholesaler, florists, trade organisations and volunteers.
But the promotional campaign has reached beyond our national borders, and has been launched also in Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Germany (Bavaria) by Felinifoundation.nl and the Dutch Embassies and Consulates General in each Country. The florists in the different countries are provided with tools to promote Grandparents Day and organize workshops: all the material for the campaign can be found on the website www.festadeinonni.it and can be downloaded from the specific Country page (Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Germany and the UK).
