The Quidditch Post can now officially reveal that the 2016 European Quidditch Cup (EQC 2016) will be held in Gallipoli, Italy. The venue will be Ecoresort Le Sirenè, located 5 kilometers outside Gallipoli itself. The dates of the tournament have not yet been finalised, but will be announced shortly, and will be between April 2 and 26 inclusive. The winning bid from the Italian town was competing against one other bid, also from Italy.
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| A view of Ecoresort Le Sirenè, showing the attached facilities | Photo courtesy of the original bid document |
Rebecca Alley, the Executive Manager of Quidditch Europe, expressed her excitement at the decision.
“The Ecoresort Le Sirene is an excellent choice for the 2016 European Quidditch Cup,” Alley said. “They have already played host to the Apulian Summer Quidditch Tournament this past September, so are familiar with our sport. With the pitches 50 metres from the hotel, and a beach in front of the hotel, Ecoresort Le Sirenè will be more than able to meet the needs of quidditch players from across Europe. We look forward to working with the resort to put on a tournament even better than last year–the Committee is pretty excited to trade English rain for some Mediterranean beaches!”
Accommodation will be offered onsite at the three star hotel through the Caroli Hotels group that owns the venue, which also has a private beach and swimming pool. Prices will be at a special rate for attending teams, though the exact rates are yet to be confirmed. Teams may choose to stay elsewhere.
The pitches themselves are 50 metres from the hotel site. The venue boasts 5 hectares of grass fields – which the bid estimates could hold four or five full-size pitches – that are surrounded by stands. The nearby location of the accommodation and the private bathrooms in each hotel room offers a comfortable option for players, the bid document states. It also mentions the option of adding locker rooms around the fields.
The nearest airports are located some way outside the town itself, with Brindisi – Salento Airport (88 kilometers, 55 miles) and Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport (200 kilometers, 120 miles) being the ones visitors will fly into. Below are some of the cheapest April flight prices for round trips, found by the Quidditch Post using the Rome2rio travel planning tool:
London City Airport (UK to Brindisi): 150 euros
Paris Orly Airport (France to Brindisi): 215 euros
Esenboğa International Airport (Turkey to Bari): 330 euros
Berlin Tegel Airport (Germany to Brindisi): 273 euros
Barcelona–El Prat Airport (Spain to Brindisi): 148 euros
Brussels Airport (Belgium to Brindisi): 146 euros
According to the bid documents, the Caroli Hotels group will help organise transport for teams to reach the venue from Brindisi – Salento Airport or from the Lecce railway station. The Ferrovie del Sud Est railway company runs a train line through Lecce from Brindisi, with the station being a seven-minute bus ride from the airport, and takes around an hour and a half, costing 30 euros. The same train runs through Bari, with the extra distance meaning the train journey extends to two and a half hours, though still costing around the same.
Gallipoli, located in the southern Italian region of Apulia, is a small town and coastal holiday resort, home to 20,000 people. With a series of 16th- and 17th-century churches and a castle that dates back to the 13th century, Gallipoli’s culture is well known. The weather in April is usually mild and pleasant, with averages of around 17 degrees Celsius, which should provide good conditions for the tournament. The decision to award the bid to Gallipoli comes after the successful hosting of the European Quidditch Games (EG) in summer 2015 in Sarteano, Italy, located in the north of the country. Though it is forbidden to host two consecutive EQCs or two consecutive EGs in the same country, a country may host one tournament one year followed the next year by the other, as Italy will do here.
According to the bid documents, the Caroli Hotels group will help organise transport for teams to reach the venue from Brindisi – Salento Airport or from the Lecce railway station. The Ferrovie del Sud Est railway company runs a train line through Lecce from Brindisi, with the station being a seven-minute bus ride from the airport, and takes around an hour and a half, costing 30 euros. The same train runs through Bari, with the extra distance meaning the train journey extends to two and a half hours, though still costing around the same.
Gallipoli, located in the southern Italian region of Apulia, is a small town and coastal holiday resort, home to 20,000 people. With a series of 16th- and 17th-century churches and a castle that dates back to the 13th century, Gallipoli’s culture is well known. The weather in April is usually mild and pleasant, with averages of around 17 degrees Celsius, which should provide good conditions for the tournament. The decision to award the bid to Gallipoli comes after the successful hosting of the European Quidditch Games (EG) in summer 2015 in Sarteano, Italy, located in the north of the country. Though it is forbidden to host two consecutive EQCs or two consecutive EGs in the same country, a country may host one tournament one year followed the next year by the other, as Italy will do here.
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| A second view of Ecoresort Le Sirenè, showing its place on the coast | Photo courtesy of the original bid document |
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