Three weeks have passed since the three days of Acoustic Guitar Village inside Cremona Musica International Exhibitions, and with this delay due to an immediately subsequent trip to visit the Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin (and we give the organizers our congratulations and our thanks for the kind hospitality), we proceed now to write a report and comment the recognized success of our event….
We have spent all together three wonderful days, concluded with satisfaction and smiles from every participant: exhibitors, musicians, journalists, experts in the field and us organizers, who had the hard job to not let anyone miss the 18 years history of the Acoustic Guitar Meeting of Sarzana.

We can say today, at the end of this 2016 edition in Cremona, that we definitely reached our goal and that the journey that began in 1998 is continuing without interruption.

It certainly isn’t easy to replace a location like a 15^th century fortress, nevertheless the display of stands, the atmosphere, the quality and number of the events taking place, the variety of contacts and exchanges and the deals made were all of high level, as expected in the international fairs of the sector.

Internationality and the further growth of the event are in fact the objectives we are setting for the coming years. The presence of many luthiers as well as big companies such as Martin, Taylor, Collings, Larrivée, Eastman, Lowden, Mayson, Fender, Guild, Lakewood, Acus-sound, Schertler, Bespeco, Shure and all the others, has already added great value to this edition. This without counting the many important attendants passing through the aisles of the exhibition, from owners of said companies to collectors and experts, both American and European, builders and luthiers visiting to see the value of the event in the prospect of participating in the future. We received for instance the compliments of a very interested and pleasantly surprised Amalia Ramirez, who already expressed the will to be present as exhibitor next year in the 2017 edition.

All the stands have actively participated in the success of the event, being gathering points for meetings, lectures and demos of the instruments. How to forget the beautiful and big Martin Guitars stand, which continuously offered high level perfomances and workshops, with the presence of the lovely and talented American musician and Martin ambassador Diane Ponzio.

Superb were the instruments exhibited by the many luthiers in the dedicated area “Luthier’s Row”, specially conceived for them, both to reduce the costs and to give them a more reserved and uniform space, which housed artisans ad builders of classical and modern guitars, coming from Italy, Europe and from America. After this year’s experience we are already planning improvements for next year’s edition, like, for instance, soundproof booths to try the instruments undisturbed and the ban of any amplification in that special area.
The care and elegance of the stand’s production have definitely contributed to the creation of an ideal atmosphere in which to walk around and closely observe the numerous, beautiful instruments exhibited; a special thanks goes to the Fair of Cremona, to the Management and to its staff, always professional, friendly and ready to solve any possible problem. With this attitude towards work and attention for details we are sure to reach important goals in the future.

The same care and attention could be noticed in the two outdoors stages just outside the pavilions, which presented themselves to the public with nice visual elements, while dozens of musicians and bands, guitar players as well as other instruments, alternated themselves offering an incessant show for the whole three days, earning the appreciation of the guitar lovers but also of the visitors who had come for the other areas of the fair, dedicated to pianos and violins.

A special mention goes to two events: the contest for upcoming artists “New Sounds of Acoustic Music”, dedicated to the memory of the late songwriter Stefano Rosso, which has recognized and awarded young musicians and bands with instruments offered by Taylor Guitars, Aramini, John Pearse Strings, Kyser capos and Acus-sound amplifiers, and to the 4° Italian Bluegrass Meeting, which marked the entire day of Saturday, turning into an unforgettable event, recognized by participants and public as the best Bluegrass Meeting thus far. From 10.00 am to 7.00 pm, 18 bands alternated themselves seamlessly on the Live Stage, with a total of 75 musicians, both Italian and foreign, all talented and energetic, who had fun and entertained the public, ending the day in various bars in Cremona, where they brought the same enthusiasm and music. As organizers, we want to thank the banjoist-guitarist Danilo Cartia for his attentive and precise coordination work.

The three days have begun with the masterclass of lutherie, lead by the masters Pierluigi Panfili, Michael Gurian and Jean Larrivée, and the masterclass of didactics for guitar, lead by the masters Soig Siberil and Franco Morone. The 20 people who signed up were treated to a full three days of high level lessons about building techniques and how to choose tonewood, and about guitar styles and techniques. This has become through the years an important moment, that some people attend edition after edition, so it will take place in 2017 for sure.
As soon as possible we will announce the chosen teachers for the next edition.

Aside from the masterclasses, many lectures, seminars and presentations have taken place almost incessantly in the special conference area of the AGV. Hard to choose one of the many meetings and conferences to talk about, from restoration techniques for old instruments to presentations of didactic books for guitar, but for sure we have to mention the workshop by Andy Powers, Bob Taylor’s right-hand man at Taylor Guitars, who has deep knowledge of all the secrets of the Taylor Custom Shop!

We’d like to conclude this report on the AGV of Cremona 2016 with a special thanks and our most sincere compliments to Marco Ballestri, author of the book “Wandrè, the artist of electric guitar”, and Gianfranco Borghi, historical varnisher of those wonderful guitars-art pieces. Together with other experts’ help and a huge and passionate work they have assembled and curated what many people described as the best Wandrè guitars exhibition ever.

In fact the 10 display cases, full of brightly painted and uniquely designed instruments, have attracted many enthusiasts coming from everywhere to admire a collection for the first time so large, with all the models ever created by the genius luthier from Cavriago, Reggio Emilia.
An unforgettable sight!

Next year we will undoubtedly present some other historical collection, as this has been a duty and a pleasure that started many years ago in Sarzana, and that greatly elevates the event.
So many contents, year after year…we really hope our efforts and work are appreciated!

In conclusion we can say that the Acoustic Guitar Village, in its first edition in Cremona, has not made us regret Sarzana at all, and has set the foundation for a sure future growth, to occupy a relevant spot among the international events of the sector. After all, if we want to talk numbers -which are not everything in an event, but need to be considered- there have been: 180 musicians in the various live events, 20 lecturers, 60 exhibitors in the stands and more than 16.000 visitors in the whole fair, with a  numerous presence of guitar enthusiasts. Significant data and a starting point for next year.

The Acoustic Guitar Village is without doubt the colourful, joyful, full of contents and spectacular new addition to Cremona Musica International Exhibitions 2016, with great promises for 2017!

Here’s a link to a presentation video for the entire event of Cremona Musica International Exhibitions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDk4C9QMnhk