Celebrate Bloomfield’s Roots With Little Italy Days This Weekend
Four days of celebrating Bloomfield’s rich Italian heritage will kick off this Thursday, and you’re invited — whether you’re Italian or not. “Everybody’s Italian this weekend!” says local musician and Bloomfield native Sal Richetti, Little Italy Days promoter since 2012. Little Italy Days was started in 2002 with the goal of celebrating the town’s...
Annual Italian Food Festival returns to Dunmore
Who doesn’t love bazaar food and Italian food? Judging by a crowd this weekend in Dunmore, no one! Saints Anthony and Rocco Parish held their Annual Italian Food Festival. The favorite local event returned to Dunmore this weekend for another successful year. This was also the first year Our Lady of Mount Carmel consolidated with the parish, so the...
The Value of Faith, Friendship and Tradition: ISDA National Convention 2023
I haven’t said hello through my column in quite a while, so I thought I’d do so now to let you know how excited I’ll be to see many of you at the upcoming ISDA National Convention in Pittsburgh. The ISDA Order and Fraternal conventions are truly the bond that holds our wonderful organization together. They provide us with not only the opportunity t...
Erie natives reflect on history of Erie’s Little Italy
With the Italian Festival this weekend, Erie natives sharing stories of what the neighborhood was like more than 50 years ago. Thousands of italians immigrated to erie around the turn of the century. David Cacchione said Erie’s Little Italy is a special neighborhood. He wrote a book about what it was like growing up there in the late 1940’s. “I loo...
The history of the Italian Festival, aka Festa Italiana in Bradford, PA
The annual Festa Italiana, held each August on Festival Way, is eagerly anticipated by Bradfordians — and not by just those of Italian descent! It’s a three-day tradition of great homemade Italian food, games, music, dancing, fireworks and greeting old friends – many of whom return to Bradford expressly for Festa Italiana – as the city joyously cel...
New Kensington church celebrates 42nd annual Italian Fest
Gina Abdallah of New Kensington knows the secret to a delicious cannoli is not its filling, nor is it the shell or nuts, or other accoutrements. It is the love you put into making it. “It’s what makes them tasty, the love,” Abdallah said. “I love doing it. I love being at festivals. I love my church. It’s a great part of the community.” Love was in...
IAP 288: Welcome to Rroseto, PA, the happiest place in Italian America!
For years we’ve been searching for an idyllic Italian American village where we might find the perfect spot to recreate the Italian American neighborhood life we all long for, and this week, we’ve literally hit the Big Time! In this week’s episode, we discuss our recent trip to Pennsylvania’s Slate Belt borough of Roseto, a historically Italian Ame...
La Festa Italiana is Back August 9. Jersey City Tradition Since 1902
For some people, La Festa Italiana is like a trip back in time, partly because it harkens back to an era when Italian immigrants dominated downtown Jersey City. While in recent years, some of the religious aspects of the traditional feast have been cut back in order to accommodate a whole new population to that part of the city, Nicholas Grillo, on...
Anna Harsh, acclaimed dancer & writer, to sign her latest Italian dance book in Aliquippa
Acclaimed dancer and writer Anna Harsh will sign copies of her latest book Aug. 7 at the B.F. Jones Memorial Library. The 5:30 p.m. event will showcase Harsh's highly anticipated second book, "The Italian Dance Quest: Finding Power, Wealth, and Innovation." A continuation of Harsh's first memoir, "La Danza: Conflict, Passion, and Healing," both boo...
Tom Fato was honored as the 2023 Italian-American of the Year
Before Italian heritage is celebrated in Wheeling this Friday through Sunday at the 40th Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival, the Italian Festival Board first honored the 2023 Italian-American of the Year, Tom Fato, at the Festival Kickoff dinner Wednesday night. Chairperson of the 2023 Italian Festival, Anthony Filberto, introduced Fato,...
Coccia Institute at Montclair U. Summer Programs Promote the Italian Experience
The Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America is thrilled to collaborate with Watchung Booksellers in presenting Kelsey James, author of The Woman in the Castello and Christina Lynch, author of Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure. The Woman in the Castello: Rome, 1965: In this gothic thriller, aspiring actress Silvia Whitford arrives at R...
One of New Jersey's biggest Italian festivals kicks off Aug. 9
In August a big tradition continues with the Italian American Association of Ocean Township’s 47th Annual Italian Festival held at Joe Palaia Park. The fun event will be held Aug. 9 through the 13 from 5 – 11p.m. I’ve attended this event a few times and enjoyed it, I was impressed how the event ran so smoothly. It was evident that everyone had thei...