Tradition and innovation set to converge at Summer Universiade 2019

When the Summer Universiade returns for its 30^th edition, it will do so in one of the most famous Italian cities in the world: Napoli.

The event is more than one city in Italy’s Campania Region: In fact Napoli will be supported by Salerno, Caserta, Avellino and Benevento as competition venues.

Around 8,000 athletes and officials will arrive in the Neapolitan city and the rest of the region to compete in 18 sport disciplines over 12 days, from 3-14 July 2019. Besides for its world famous pizza, Napoli has popular traditions and very ancient culture that allows it to be a UNESCO World Heritage site and is well known as “the city of the sun and the sea.”

 The Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade floating athletes’ village coming together in the Stazione Marittima Napoli

The sea will be, with the great broken top of Vesuvius volcano behind it, the backdrop to one of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet, and home for many athletes. In fact, the Napoli Athletes’ Village will be unique, as its set up on two cruise ships and ready to welcome participants from different disciplines.

The event slogan is “To be Unique”. Its easy to see why this tagline was chosen.

This claim draws on the distinctive U of Universiade and the fact that once you set foot in Napoli, it is a unique city. It cannot be forgotten that setting up the Athletes’ Village on cruise ships is something that has never happened before for a major international multi-sport event. Napoli may very well set sail to a whole new legacy to solving athlete accommodation through splashy and innovative measures.

Napoli also has a timeless charm, and for good good reason: the roots of Napoli’s history goes back centuries. Passing from the centuries of Greek influence to the Roman Empire, then reaching the period under the Aragonese and the Bourbons, when Napoli was the capital city of the Kingdom of the two Sicilies. The uniqueness of the city’s history is something that fills Neapolitans with great pride, as it is impossible not to feel a sense of history walking through its cobblestone streets. These reasons all contribute to the conception, organisation and realisation of the Universiade: sport and university cannot walk separate to the culture.

The Universiade mascot is inspired by the cultural context,. I twill be a young “Pulcinella,” a theater mask representing a character of the Neapolitan popular tradition. But for the Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade, graphic artists and designers have come up with a fresh focus on the original that will further resonate with students and athletes.

The structure that will host the opening ceremony of Naples 2019 on 3 July will be the Stadio San Paolo in Naples, the city’s most iconic venue, home football pitch of the SSC Napoli, and also once hosted the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

The Universiade torch relay start in Torino and will stop at universities in the main Italian cities. Before ending the tour, the torch will arrive in Napoli, where it will be shown at the opening ceremony.

Another important component of the event will be volunteers: their support will help to make the event even more unique, full of young people promoting the spirit of sport. Many students and citizens are responding to , following the claim: “Join us, meet the world.”

Contributing Source: Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade