Festa dell'Emigrante di Nembro

The memory of those who left

Nembro — a municipality in the Seriana Valley, in the Province of Bergamo — is a land that knows the history of emigration well: like many towns in the Bergamo area, it has seen generations of its sons and daughters leave for Belgium, France, Switzerland, and beyond in search of work. The Festa dell'Emigrante was created to preserve this memory and takes place every year in August.

Remembering Marcinelle

The commemorative heart of the festival is the remembrance of the Marcinelle tragedy: on August 8, 1956, in the Bois du Cazier mine in Belgium, a fire at a depth of one thousand meters caused the death of 262 miners, 136 of whom were Italian. The Festa dell'Emigrante honors their memory and that of all emigrants, passing on to new generations the value of the sacrifice of those who left their homeland.

The Museum of Mining and Emigration

The event takes place at the Museum of Mining and Emigration, in Piazzetta dell'Emigrante, and is organized by the Associazione Nembresi nel Mondo APS (Association of Nembro People Abroad) with the Municipality of Nembro and the Migrants' Office of the Diocese of Bergamo. Among recent initiatives is the inauguration of the "Baracca del Minatore" (Miner's Shack), a faithful reconstruction of the accommodation of Italian miners in Belgium. With over thirty years of history, the Festa dell'Emigrante is an event of profound civic and identity significance for Nembro, intertwining memory, culture, and community.