Agrigento 2025, controversy over the tender: "Too late, unclear"

AGRIGENTO – It was supposed to be a historic occasion, a chance to revitalize the entire city's cultural and civic life. But the public tender for Agrigento, Italian Capital of Culture 2025 , launched months late , risks becoming a resounding missed opportunity . The issue has been raised by the Green Left Alliance – Italian Left and ARCI Agrigento , who in a joint statement denounced structural and procedural issues in the management of the initiative.

The call, intended to fund cultural projects in line with the official program, arrives with a timeframe deemed too tight : the deadline for submitting proposals is set for August 4th , leaving little room for local associations, cultural organizations, and businesses to organize themselves effectively.

"A collective disappointment," write Pasquale Cucchiara , provincial secretary of AVS – Sinistra Italiana, and Antonio Barone of ARCI, "which penalizes precisely those organizations that believed in the challenge, investing time, ideas, and resources."

In addition to the timeframe, the focus is also on the lack of transparency in the selection criteria and the absence of a strategic vision . The maximum funding available for each project, €15,000 , is deemed "inadequate" if not accompanied by comprehensive planning and genuine engagement with local communities .

"Until now," the statement reads, "we have avoided public controversy so as not to stifle the positive energy of the region. But today it is necessary to state that the management of the entire process appears confusing, opaque, and lacking long-term scope ."

The requests put forward by the two acronyms are specific: – transparency on available funds and evaluation procedures , – extension of the deadline for the call for proposals , – establishment of a permanent roundtable with associations, cultural operators and citizens.

" Culture cannot simply be a label to be flaunted , but must become a genuine driver of sustainable development and social inclusion ," conclude Cucchiara and Barone. Time, however, is running out. And the risk that the Capital of Culture will remain merely a facade is becoming more concrete.

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