On 29 October, around 500 evangelical churches in the North of Italy saw the fruit of 2 years of collaboration and planning.

In Milan, the Mediolanum Forum was packed with over 13,200 people attending the Festival ‘Noi’ (“Us” or “We”, in Italian).

The event was organised with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and hoped to impact the region of Lombardy with a clear gospel proclamation.

The attendance, authorities confirmed later, was the biggest ever in the 32-year-old venue usually used for basketball competitions and concerts.

A straight-forward message about “God’s love” and the need to be “born again” (based on John 3) was given by evangelist Franklin Graham, son of the well-known evangelist Billy Graham. According to the organisation, over 600 people responded to the invitation to follow Jesus, and were put in touch with local churches. Among these, 36% were under the age of 25, BGEA reported.

As in other festivals before (for example, the Festival da Esperança in Lisbon, the Festival de la Esperanza in Barcelona and the God Loves You Tour in three cities of the UK), the evangelistic effort included musical performances by international artists (The Afters, Taya and Dennis Agajanian) and other side-events.

Ahead of the event, adverts were put on the Milan metro system, and more than 4,000 church members were trained in how to witness with the gospel and respond to those who express a desire to follow Jesus Christ.

Earlier this year, preparation for Noi included three youth events: in Milan, Turin, and Verona.

The impact of the evangelical field hospital in Verona

In a private reception before the event, the President of Lombardy met Franklin Graham and other evangelical representatives. Attilio Fontana expressed its thankfulness for the help the Samaritan’s Purse emergency field hospital offered when the coronavirus pandemic exploded in Italy.

The solidarity NGO linked to BGEA made a huge impact in the city of Cremona (south west of Milan) in the first weeks of the coronavirus contagion.

“It was a fundamental help that the people of Cremona appreciated so much”, Fontana said. “And it made us feel close to so many friends who understood the situation. I think it is right to collaborate with them, and even today, we talked about possible future collaborations”

The health crisis in 2020 prompted the desire of evangelical churches to organise this festival. After an attempt to celebrate it in 2021 had to be postponed, the ‘Noi Festival’ was finally celebrated in 2022.