We spoke about the European Capital of Culture at the Vinitaly festival in Verona, in the presence of high-level institutional guests. On Sunday morning, right after the official opening, the GO! 2025 and some SPF projects related to food and wine were presented at the stand of the Regional Agency Ersa.  

The guests who took part to the event were Romina Kocina, Director of the EGTC GO, Matjaž Longar, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia in Rome, Eva Knez, Undersecretary of State at the Slovenian Ministry of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Policies, Stefano Zannier, Regional Commissioner for agri-food, forestry, fisheries, and mountain areas, and the Gorizia City Council members Patrizia Artico, Luca Cagliari and Fabrizio Oreti. 

Romina Kocina presented the role and mission of the EGTC and declared: "In these 300 days preceding the ribbon-cutting ceremony for GO! 2025, we chose Vinitaly as one of the strategic stages for the countdown towards February 8, 2025". 

The participants were also welcomed by the Councilor for Agriculture of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia Stefano Zannier, who mentioned “all the Slovenian friends with whom the Region constantly cooperates. GO! 2025 is a project that was created naturally. Presenting the European Capital of Culture 2025 at Vinitaly proves that wine and viticulture are a part of the heritage of this cross-border area and have always been a common tradition of the local people". Ambassador Longar also highlighted the importance of the project, which crosses borders in an area that has historically witnessed the division between the people from the two sides. Here, the Italian and Slovenian cultures become a bridge between two communities: this integration is also favored by the shared interest for food and wine. 

Patrizia Artico, the Gorizia City Council member responsible for the European Capital of Culture, affirmed that "wines will have a leading role at "Go! 2025" because they can tell the thousand-year history of these lands". 

The City Council member responsible for Major Events Luca Cagliari declared that in 2025, Gorizia will host the first cross-border edition of the festival Gusti di Frontiera. This event will be preceded by the traditional Gusti di Frontiera of this year, which will be held on the Italian side of the border only and is expected to be impressive, with 15 different “villages” and, as always, stalls from all over the world. This year, Gusti di Frontiera will take place from 26 to 29 September. 

Fabrizio Oreti, another City Council member highlighted that in the countdown towards the start of the Capital of Culture, cultural events will be more numerous: “This will be a widespread commitment and a great opportunity for the city, with over 200 cultural associations involved. Together with them we will tell what we have been and what we will be, describing the transformation of this area from Theater of War to Laboratory of Peace”. 

Among the projects financed by the GO! 2025 Small Projects Fund (Interreg VI-A Italia Slovenia 2021-2027), managed by the EGTC GO, which aims at enriching the tourist offer of the territory and creating the basis for the activities planned for 2025, some are related to food and wine. For example, there are the Borderless Taste project, realized by the partners LAS Karst and ORA Sežana, and the Wines of Friendship and Peace project of the Franciscan Convent of Kostanjevica and the Spessa Castle. The Movimento Turismo del Vino FVG and the University of Nova Gorica also promote the Eno (Satira) - Spirito di Vino project.