As tradition dictates, Festa Italiana 2009 was kicked off with a celebratory Italian Mass on Saturday, August 22nd at 7pm. The proceeding few days would hold a Bocce tournament; and Festa Night at the Flicks which featured “Una Moglie Bellissima” (A Beautiful Wife) an Italian Award Winning film. However, the festivities hit full swing on Thursday August 27th, for “Piazza Italia” at Pioneer Courthouse Square.  This ethnic festival is hosted by several Italian-American organizations in the area.

As a proud Italian-American, I had highly anticipated this event. When we arrived the lights, mood, breeze and music were the perfect setting for the evening, whether a family or lovebirds seeking an evening of romance. The PSU student performers were just exiting the stage looking quite elegant in their formals. Then Marco Missinato a musician from Rome, Italy took the stage and began to sing a repertoire of Italian songs. After listening to a few songs, it was time for Roxanne and I to explore the foods available.

Holding true to our heritage, there was more food then you could imagine. In fact, this particular festival had many more food vendors than any other ethnic festival that I attended this summer. There was pasta, pizza, lasagna, and the pastries, there simply is no comparison. There were tons of food selections and plenty of tables for eating. The festival features a grape stomping competition, wine tasting, a cooking demonstration, marionettes, dancers, singers, violinist and more.

The dance floor was bare, until an elderly and obviously very in love, couple took to the floor. Their movements and passion stirred the crowd; and one by one many other couple joined them until the dance floor was packed. The whole mood was very relaxing and peaceful. If you have a love affair with food this is the festival for you.