Marina – The largest musical dancing fountain in Italy
It is called Marina and it is the musical dancing fountain, created by Forme d’Acqua Venice Fountains, which transforms the Palermo Marina Yachting of the Palermo Port into a stage, thanks to its majestic choreographies of water and lights that move to the most beautiful songs of international fame. This is the largest musical dancing fountain in Italy, chosen by the Port System Authority of the Western Sicilian Sea to welcome its visitors and the city.
Palermo, 13 October 2023 – Today marks a moment of great celebration for the city of Palermo: after two intense years of work, the inauguration of the redevelopment of the Palermo Marina Yachting of the Port of Palermo is held. The star of this large and ambitious project is Marina, the largest musical dancing fountain in Italy, a creative and sustainable artistic work created by Forme d’Acqua Venice Fountains.
Much more than an urban lake, but an artistic fountain designed to welcome with its visual and musical shows, with water and lights dancing to the notes of the most beautiful internationally renowned songs, from “Dangerous” by David Guetta to “Zitti e buoni” by Måneskin.
Marina as the little mermaid narrated by Gianni Rodari in his unforgettable fairy tale The Mermaid of Palermo, which talks about love, inclusion and uniqueness. The little mermaid is found by a poor fisherman from Palermo who welcomes her into his family, and will soon discover her extraordinary gift for narrating events and stories of reality and fantasy “of all peoples and all times”. Likewise, our Marina with its songs and its dancing jets enchants passers-by, visitors and workers of the Port of Palermo..
The first show of the artistic fountain will be held this evening in front of an institutional audience, in which the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Port System Authority of the Western Sicilian Sea Pasqualino Monti, who immediately believed in the work, the President of the Sicilian Region Renato Schifani and the Mayor of Palermo Roberto Lagalla.
For the inaugural event, three songs were chosen, which summarize all the expressive, technical and technological capabilities of the fountain, obtained from intense programming work by the technical programmers of Forme d’Acqua together with the light designer arch. Simona Marta Favrin – FavrinDesign. The opening of the show sees the participation of the dancer Yuriko Nishihara, who will perform together with the fountain the song “Hold my hand” by Lady Gaga, soundtrack of the film “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022) and defined by the singer herself “a letter of love to the world during and after a very difficult period.” The common thread between water and land, between fountain and ballerina is represented by a dynamic nozzle installed on the ground near the edge between the main square and the lake. Following the interpretation by the fountain alone of the songs “Skyfall” by Adele and “Con te partirò” by Andrea Boccelli.
At the end of the show, the video by director Carlo Fumo on the redevelopment of the AdSP ports of the western Sicilian Sea will be projected on the Water Screen of the fountain.
“In Italy we boast the important distinction of having the most beautiful fountain in the world, the Trevi Fountain, co-star of numerous films, first and foremost Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita”. Palermo, in its thousand-year-old role as a crossroads between East and West, will from today welcome all those who pass through the Port of Palermo with “Marina”, the largest musical dancing fountain in Italy, where you can find the best of technology and innovation in terms of sustainability and experiential entertainment.”
Gianluca Orazio, CEO Forme d’Acqua Venice Fountains
The artistic musical dancing fountain is a sustainable work entirely custom-designed to emphasize the entertainment and emotionality of the Port of Palermo. Sustainability is the distinctive factor: thanks to the filtration and recirculation system, the water used is always the same, so as to preserve this important resource. Electricity consumption is also minimal, as the fountain is made only with energy-saving technologies designed by the partners Oase Living Water and Teclumen.
The fountain has a total of 141 nozzles and 106 RGBW LED spots individually controlled via DMX technology.
The design features three concentric rings with two side wings coming out of the larger outer ring. 64 nozzles are aligned along the main figure, each illuminated by an LED spot and powered by two controllable speed pumps, which allow the water jets to be brought to a height of 6m. A dynamic ring with a 6m diameter makes the fountain unique: 6 sets generate jets and rotating parabolas with a height of up to 15m, given by the multidirectional dynamic nozzles. In the smaller ring there are 6 compressed air nozzles, with jets that can reach 20m pushed by two air accumulation and pumping groups placed on the ground, composed of two screw compressors that generate a particular “shot effect”, ideal for enhancing the salient passages of songs. A Water Screen nozzle is inserted in the center, which traces the entire diameter of the fountain and can be integrated into multimedia video projection, video mapping or laser shows. Corresponding to the 64 nozzles, the same number of 80 micron nebulizing nozzles are inserted to create a blanket of scenic and cooling fog.
The peculiarity of the audio system consists in the placement of the 6 full range emission points near the fountain, inside the lake, to guarantee maximum sound impact, perfect synchrony with the water features and 360° coverage of the sound diffusion. A 400V electrical panel acts as a single control center and manages the correct functioning of all the equipment. The system is equipped with a controller, which integrates the 3D design and visualization process in real time. The selection of songs can also be managed from a smartphone, tablet or PC via MyFountain, the app created by Forme d’Acqua for the remote management of its fountains.
The fountain was commissioned by the company Cler – Cooperativa Lavoratori Elettrici Romani Società Cooperativa and created in collaboration with the local partner Ennegi Service srl.
With this great redevelopment work we have seen the recovery of the old disused commercial pier, transforming it into an elite tourist reception center for the entire city of Palermo. It is a total surface area of 60,000m2, of which 6,000m2 are covered by the urban lake, created along the perimeter of the historic walls of the Castello a Mare, which houses the artistic fountain. Marina is more than a fountain: it is a symbol of innovation, creativity and sustainability that transforms the heart of the Port of Palermo into a breathtaking stage. Its inauguration is a significant step in the redevelopment of the Port and in the valorization of the city of Palermo as a prestigious tourist destination.
For information:
Susanna Dei Rossi
Press office and Public Relations Forme d’Acqua
+39 041 5301820
+39 349 3225853
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Forme d’Acqua Venice Fountains
Company from Cavallino Treporti (Venice) that designs, builds, restores and markets custom-made sustainable fountains.
Founded in 2005, it immediately stood out on the market for its ability to combine technology and innovation with the most refined artisanal techniques, in order to offer fountains that last over time and that use water and energy resources in a sustainable manner.
It deals with new creations and restorations, collaborating with the best professionals to create customized projects and solutions, combining water with the finest materials. A Forme d’Acqua fountain is synonymous with emotion, where empathy embraces the observer and makes him an active part of the water and light shows. He works throughout Italy and abroad, mainly in Europe and the Middle East, creating fountains of all types and sizes in Iraqi Kurdistan, Switzerland, France, Romania, Turkey, China, Kazakhstan and many other states, in which he collaborates continuously using internal staff only.
Yuriko Nishihara
Born in Tokyo in 1993, where he began his studies with teacher Yasuko Goro.
She was part of a youth company directed by Asami Maki from 2005 to 2007. In 2011 she moved to Lausanne where she studied classical dance, Martha Graham technique, percussion and singing at the École-Atelier Rudra Béjart Lausanne. In that period he participated in the international tour of the Béjart Ballet Lausanne company: from the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow to the Regio in Turin, from the Stadsschouwburg Antwerp in Antwerp to the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne.
After graduating he continued his journey in Spain at the María de Ávila superior dance conservatory in Madrid, where he studied the repertoires of Nacho Duato, Hans van Manen, William Forsythe and George Balanchine. Then she moved to Portugal for a company in Covilhã. In 2015 he moved to Rome to work with Diana Ferrara collaborating with Italian choreographers such as Luciano Cannito, Enrico Morelli, Milena Zullo and Paolo Arcangeli. Since 2016 he has been part of the dance troupe of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, often playing the first roles.
