Long gone are the days of elderly Italian men and women cooking homemade spaghetti and ravioli, fireworks bursting over Wilmington's west side, thrilling high-wire acts, and runners participating in a 5K and 10K runs. Wilmington's St. Anthony's Italian Festival, a celebration of Italian American culture and heritage that has been one of the most popular kickoffs to the state's summer season for more than half a century, hasn't had some of those aspects in years.
It is now making even more changes. This year, the celebration held in the streets around the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church at Ninth and Dupont streets will be pared down from eight days to seven. It runs from Sunday, June 7, to Saturday, June 13.
