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The 2024 Tontitown Grape Festival runs from Tuesday, Aug. 6 through Saturday, Aug. 10 on Henri De Tonti Boulevard (U.S. 412). The annual event returns for its 125th season this year and includes carnival rides, an arts and crafts fair, a 5K walk/run, and free live music. This year’s music lineup includes performances by Jenna & The Soul Shakers, Bo...

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Many folks in Northwest Arkansas know that Tontitown was founded by Italian immigrants who had first come to the United States lured by promises of land and opportunity at Sunnyside Plantation in Southeast Arkansas. Conditions at Sunnyside, though, fell far short of the promises, prompting several dozen families to migrate again to an area west of...

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When most people think of Italian America, they probably think of the many famous East Coast Italian enclaves, but we've come to learn that some of the finest fruits of Italian influence in American life actually exist well off the beaten path. And few places we've visited, if any, bring the story of Italian immigration to life quite like Tontitown...

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The museum was happy to host researcher and photographer Valerio Geraci originally from Palermo, Italy, now residing in Paris, France. Valerio arrived in America and began his travels through the south documenting Italian communities for his book, starting in Little Italy, AR and then from Tontitown he journeyed to Lake Village, AR and onwards out...

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We spent last week filming in one of the most overlooked (and criminally underappreciated) corners of Italian America… deep in the Ozarks in a little Italian village called Tontitown, Arkansas! In this week’s episode of The Italian American Podcast, we’re sitting down with two of the new paesani we met during our travels, Heather Ranalli Peachee an...

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It is with heavy hearts that the Tontitown Historical Museum (THM) Board shares the passing of our co-founder Charlotte Piazza. We truly have Charlotte and her husband, Henry Piazza, to thank for having a museum at all. Charlotte was born and spent her early years in Kansas. She and Henry visited many small-town museums as they traveled through her...

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Jettie Franco recently spent hours running dough through a roller to make spaghetti for her town's annual grape festival. It's a tradition she has been participating in for about 60 years and that has been in the Franco family for generations. Franco worked alongside family members and other prominent Tontitown families to prepare the dinners for t...

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For the 122nd time, the annual Grape Festival is coming to Tontitown. The festival started all the way back in 1898 when the Italian families who immigrated to Arkansas held a tasty meal to celebrate the harvest. The Grape Festival will feature free live music, a carnival, the grape stomp, and of course, the famous spaghetti dinners. Volunteers hav...

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What unites all the people I have had the good luck to interview is their relationship with an aspect of the marriage between Italy and America. Everyone experiences it from a different point of view, on this or that side of the ocean, and for We the Italians it is nice to meet people who are different in culture, sex, age, experience, tastes and v...

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Un lungo viaggio nell'America profonda alla ricerca dei discendenti di minatori, contadini e pescatori, emigrati più di un secolo fa per dare vita a comunità italiane in ogni angolo dell'enorme nazione che si aprì davanti ai loro occhi dopo lo sbarco a Ellis Island. Si intitola “Italian American Country” il progetto ideato e curato da Paolo Battagl...

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