Published on: 03/07/2024 Updated on: 20/02/2025
Once a year, the village of Garlenda is transformed into the home of the historic 500. Hundreds of examples converge from all over Europe in the Ligurian hinterland to celebrate the Italians' most beloved small car. And Mafra is alongside participants in the 41st Fiat 500 International Meeting (July 5-7), whose passion it shares.
It was 1983 when the municipality and the Pro Loco of Garlenda, a village in the Savona hinterland, thinking of organizing an event that would give notoriety to the locality, planned a 500 rally. The popular Fiat hatchback, born in 1957, was in fact still widely used by locals.
The first gathering was held on July 15, 1984 with about 30 participants. Thus was born the Fiat 500 Club Italia, which turns 40 years old in 2024. And since then, the number of rally participants has grown more and more to many hundreds.
This year the 41st International Fiat 500 Meeting "The Italian Taste" is held in Garlenda from July 4 to 7.
Mafra at Fiat 500 International Meeting
Mafra is present at the Fiat 500 International Meeting 2024 sharing participants' passion for the little Fiat and welcoming them with its inflatable bows and spiders.
For all participants, Mafra has prepared a special welcome kit, containing a number of products designed to keep the cars shining for a long time. The Mafra kit contains:
- GlassCleaner: our glass and window degreaser, perfect for deeply washing and degreasing auto glass, removing halos, grease, stains and fingerprints
- HP 12: Mafra's powerful multi-purpose universal car degreaser, effective on any surface and also suitable for engine cleaning
- Plastic Care 3 in 1: the Mafra product specifically for cleaning car plastics, capable of completely removing any stain
A long tradition
The first edition of the Garlenda Fiat 500 rally was even attended by engineer Dante Giacosa, father of the little Fiat (and many other models).
By 1985 the thirty participants in the event had already grown to 100, a year later to 300. In 1986, personalities such as Gianfranco Funari, Sandra Milo, Piero Chiambretti and Simona Ventura took part in the event. In 1989 saw the birth of the magazine 4piccoleruote, dedicated to the 500, now published bimonthly.
Instead, the Fiat 500 Club Italia was born on March 13, 1990, and is federated ASI since 2000. The first record of participants was set in 2005, with as many as 622 examples arriving in Garlenda from all over the world.
In 2006, on the other hand, the Meeting was entered in the Guinness World Record with 745 Fiat 500s parading from Villanova to Garlenda.
Of July 6, 2007, is the opening, also in the same location, of the Multimedia Museum of the 500 Dante Giacosa, later expanded in 2019. Particularly significant examples of the 500 belonging to club members are displayed there.
The Museum is also associated with a Road Education Documentation Center, where educational projects also take place in cooperation with the Traffic Police.
2024 is the year of the 40th anniversary of the Meeting, celebrated with the slogan "We are forty."
Music and parades
The program of the Fiat 500 International Meeting 2024 is divided into four intense days. It begins Thursday, July 4, with theAperiMeeting organized from 6 p.m. at the Le Serre shopping center and Ipercoop in Albenga (SV). At 9:30 p.m., "Happy Birthday Fiat 500," an evening of music and dance , is staged in Garlenda's Borgata Ponte square .
On Friday, July 5, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Punto Amico market is held in the square in front of the 500 Museum in Garlenda . At 10:30 a.m., at Borgata Ponte also in Garlenda, theopening of the 41st Meeting and Exhibition is scheduled.
In the afternoon, at 2 p.m., the Tourist Tour in Alassio, christened "The Italian Taste," will start instead. In addition to music and entertainment, the Tour will include participation in the pesto school, curated by Alassio's Frantoio Armato in Santa Croce.
In the evening, at 9 p.m., the 500 Night Music & Dance in Albenga starts from Villafranca Park. The 500s are positioned in Albenga on Viale Italia and in De André Square, where the show by the Mike and the Simpatici orchestra and DJ Enzo begins at 9:30 p.m.
The program for Saturday, July 6, begins at 8 a.m. with the start of the walk in Borgata Castelli in Garlenda. From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. there is the Punto Amico market in the square in front of the 500 Museum.
Also in the museum, but at 9 a.m. is a talk by technical commissioner Enrico Bo on the topic of "Advice on Incautious Purchases."
At 10 a.m., however, the museum will host the presentation of the book on Ligurian cuisine by Stefano Pezzini and the presentation of the Best Partner 2024 award to Santero 958.
At 11:15 a.m., from Villafranca Park, the Grand Tour "Italian Taste" begins with destination Pieve di Teco (IM), a town in the Arroscia Valley. Here you can taste specialties such as leek and walnut ravioli and stockfish all'Onegliese.
At 2:15 p.m., again from Villafranca Park, there is a departure for AcquaPark Le Caravelle in Ceriale. Those who prefer it can head instead to Balto Beach in Albenga.
Villafranca Park then hosts from 6 p.m. Emilia-Romagna in festa (it is the host region of 2024), from 9:30 p.m. the Grand Gala 500 and from 11:30 p.m. the DJ set.
The Friend Point Market is also held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 7. Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., however, the 500s must concentrate on Provincial Road 6 at Lerrone Street, at the height of the 500's Blocks. At 10 a.m., in fact, the Grand Parade of the Riviera is scheduled to depart from there for Andora, where from 11 a.m., at the Butterfly Park, performances and entertainment begin.
Mafra accompanies the participants of the Fiat 500 International Meeting, with whom it shares a passion for the cute little car from Turin.
