The Leucosia Prize is an event that has been repeated every year in September for about 30 years, thanks to which numerous shows are organised.
The Leucosia Prize is awarded every year to those who have collaborated for the promotion of the Cilento area all over the world. The event takes place in the park of Villa Matarazzo in Santa Maria di Castellabate.
The Leucosia Prize event, born in 1986 from an idea of the President of the Leucosia association Giovanni Farace, who died prematurely a few years ago, is dedicated to the ”Leucosia” mermaid, who according to legend is buried here on the homonymous islet.
Every year, the Prize is awarded, in an open-air gala evening, in a lively evening of music and entertainment, in front of a large audience, to those who, Cilento and not, have done their utmost to make Cilento known beyond its natural boundaries. This event, in fact, has reached an increasingly international orbit in recent years, with the “Project in the footsteps of Ulysses”, with which the fervent minds of President Farace and his association wanted to retrace the journey of the hero Dantesque, surpassing the Pillars of Hercules and reaching the Cilento communities of South America, landing in Uruguay, Brazil and Venezuela, counting among the prize-winning important personalities of South America, such as the former President of Uruguay Rafael Aldiego Bruno, the ‘Archbishop of Montevideo, the director of Rai International for South America, avv. Raso, the painter Fuka, all emigrated from Cilento.
Leucosia Prize: the latest events
President Farace passed away while conceiving and dreaming of the 20th edition of this award, of his dearest creature, which, born as a small local event, has reached ever wider levels, attracting personalities from everywhere to Castellabate. Therefore, it fell to the daughter, the lawyer Evelina Farace, to take the reins of this project, since 2010, involving young artists and talents from Cilento.
Leucosia and its gold awardees
Among the many winners we find important personalities: mezzo-soprano Rossana Rinaldi, who has crossed the stage of the most renowned opera houses, working with prestigious artists such as Placido Domingo, Riccardo Muti, Catia Ricciarelli, Daniela Dessì, etc; Giulio Piccirilli, Commentator of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, former Italian ambassador to Ecuador and Paraguay, who stood out for his professional qualities in delicate periods in the history of South America. For the theater, however, the actor Pierluigi Iorio, who has participated in numerous theatrical and television works, both as an actor and as a director, as well as in the artistic direction of various theaters and festivals. For sport, Agropoli Basket, which celebrates its 50-year history, was born as a small local team, later becoming a national point of reference. Finally, for the popular music of Cilento, Concetta Vermiglio, a passionate researcher of the musical traditions of the area.
