2009 Mediterranean Games presented to the victims of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, occurred in the region of Abruzzo on 6 April 2009; Italian flag was carried by the Italian Special Forces, "who were the first to arrive in L’Aquila". The ceremony featured a special performance by the Italian Air Force. Italian musician and singer-songwriter Eros Ramazzotti sang "L'orizzonte" from his 2009 studio album "Ali e radici". The main attraction of the ceremony was the "Water Ceremony". The "water journey" took place through the villages most stricken by the earthquake and ended at the stadium. The programme for the Pescara Games included 24 sports
Italian Week people who suffered the effects of the earthquake in Emilia Romagna. Italian Week proposed a series of event in which Italian culture was showcased in Italian gastronomy with the special guest Stefano Manfredi, chef at the Italian Alfresco Feast at the Treasury Hotel; in music, with the young and talented Italian acoustic guitarist Andrea Valeri and the Italo-American guitarist Art Phillips; in cinema with the screening of "Lezioni di Cioccolato" in collaboration with the Dante Alighieri Society, Casa Italia Community Centre and Griffith University; in traditional dance with Carmen Gentile, young Italian dance from Salerno; in Italian manufacture with an