Italians sing from balconies to show unity against coronavirus

Thousands of Italians blended their voices together Friday in a nationwide flash mob to break the monotony after the government imposed strict lockdowns.

With Italy’s 60 million citizens forced to remain at home until at least April 3, people leaned out of their windows, stood on balconies and on the streets to join in the Flash Mob Sonoro, Billboard reported.

Beginning at 6 p.m. local time, Italians began harmonizing. In Milan, people waved Italian flags and sang the national anthem, Billboard reported. Farther south, people played instruments or simply banged on pots and pans.

The nationwide songfest was promoted by Rome-based Fanfaroma, a brass collective whose name is a combination of fanfarone (“braggart”) and Roma (“Rome”).

Saturday at noon, millions of Italians leaned out of windows or stood on their balconies to applaud the health care workers in hospitals and other front-line medical staff, The New York Times reported.

The Italian government canceled all concerts and public gatherings last week, then mandated a national lockdown, as Italy has been one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, Rolling Stone reported.

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