La Nuova Sardegna

A twinning between Sardinia and the Japanese islands of Okinawa in the sign of longevity. It will be the Costa Smeralda Consortium, in the Marina Piazzetta in Porto Cervo, which will host the second edition of Longevity Fest on August 31, with a twinning that will have as its main theme the anthropological and cultural analysis of longevity, comparing two of the most important “Blue Zones” in the world, the island of Okinawa and Sardinia, in the presence of researchers and specialists on the subjects.

The event is part of a new stage of the territorial marketing program “Insula - Sardinia Quality World”, promoted by the Regional Department of Tourism, Handicrafts and Trade and Cipnes Gallura, to present the uniqueness values of the destination Sardinia. The Longevity Fest project, conceived and produced by director Pietro Mereu and Ilex Production, will be developed and coordinated in its second edition by the Costa Smeralda Consortium and the Agrifood and Territorial Marketing Division of Cipnes Gallura, through an in-depth talk. The event, hosted by food culture expert journalist Eleonora Cozzella, will feature the screening of an excerpt from the documentary on the island of Okinawa, “Kentannos”, directed by Victor Cruz and produced by Kino Productions. This will be followed by a panel discussion entitled “Okinawa and Sardinia: so far away, so close”, in which the similarities and differences between the two different Blue Zones will be examined. In addition to artistic director, Pietro Mereu, director and founder of Longevity Fest, the talk will see the partecipation of Giovanni Mario Pes, a researcher at the University of Sassari and Blue Zone co-founder; Giovanni Scapagnini, a Blue Zone medical researcher; and, for the first time in Sardinia, Craig Willcox, a gerontologist from the University of Okinawa.

During the evening event, the contents of the thematic action “The Paths of Food and Wine Tourism”, a journey between longevity and the values of the Sardinian-Mediterranean diet, will be illustrated by Massimo Masia, Insula project manager, with the participation of Gianni Chessa, Regional Councillor for Tourism, Crafts and Commerce. Closing the event will be a tasting of Sardinian-Japanese preparations, a true gastronomic “cross over” between Japan and Sardinia, signed by chefs Angelo Serra of Insula and Roberto Okabe of Finger's. «We are pleased that Sardinian excellence can also include longevity, a peculiarity of our territory that is a further testimony to the value of the context in which we live – explained the president of the Costa Smeralda Consortium, Renzo Persico –. Hosting the world event on longevity in the future as well will have a strategic value for us, both for its attractiveness and for the cultural depth that its contents present».

The head of the Agrifood and Territorial Marketing Division of Cipnes and project manager of the Insula program, Massimo Masia, emphasizes that «path of promotion and internationalization of the destination Sardinia promoted by the Region of Sardinia and Cipnes, we love to tell about a land that is more than its beautiful sea and white beaches, a magical place rich in history, biodiversity and symbol of longevity and quality of life. We are one of the 5 “Blue Zone areas” in the world with the highest ratio of centenarians per inhabitants, a mix of genetic, environmental factors, quality of life and nutraceutical values of the foods that are the basis of the Sardinian-Mediterranean diet».