ANA Gathering – Bondone Alpini Group

The Bondone Alpini Gathering

The ANA Gathering of the Bondone Alpini Group is the annual event where the 'black feathers' of the Chiese Valley meet in the small village of Bondone, in the Autonomous Province of Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige. Every year in mid-June, the event combines the memory of the fallen with the conviviality typical of the Alpine world, attracting delegations from neighboring groups and numerous supporters.

A tradition rooted in the village

The Bondone Alpini Group, inaugurated on December 29, 1963, and dedicated to the memory of Alpino Emilio Cimarolli, who fell in Albania, has about thirty active members and a dozen supporters. Beyond the gathering, the group is a key player in the village's community life: they were among the creators of the Alpine chapel built in the Alpo area and inaugurated in June 2006, a small mountain sanctuary that testifies to the deep bond between the Alpini and their territory.

The day's program

The reunion follows a well-established ceremony that takes place over the course of a Sunday:

• Meeting and assembly in Piazza Levata;
• Flag-raising with ritual honors;
• Parade through the village streets to the Church of the Nativity of Mary, with the welcome of the archpriest and the celebration of Holy Mass;
• Wreath-laying at the War Memorial;
• Shared Alpine lunch in Piazza ex Colonia;
• Musical band performance in the afternoon;
• Flag-lowering to close the day.

Bondone, one of Italy's most beautiful villages

Perched on a natural terrace at about 720 meters above sea level, at the extreme south-western edge of Trentino, the Municipality of Bondone is included in the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy circuit. The village, which overlooks Lake Idro and dominates the Chiese Valley, offers participants a setting of great scenic charm, amidst mountains, forests, and historical memory linked to the events of the Counts of Lodron. The gathering is thus also an opportunity to discover one of the most evocative villages in Trentino.