THUNDER BAY — Thousands of residents met outside the Italian Cultural Centre on Sunday to celebrate 35 years of Festa Italiana.
The free-to-attend festival was started decades ago by Benny Melchiorre, the festival's chairman, and a group of volunteers, as a family event aimed to bring a variety of economic, social and other benefits to the city.
Jennifer Tempelman, the Ladies of the Italian Society of Port Arthur’s acting president, was one of the many people from the community who attended the festival on Sunday.
The festival, Tempelman said, is about the Italian community coming together to celebrate their passion for cooking, baking and fun, alongside their culture, language and everything that some of them, as second and third generation, would like to preserve from their mothers, fathers and grandparents.
“The Italian community loves to have this festival year after year,” Tempelman said, “because it is a way to preserve the Italian culture with food and baking and everything that has to do with everything that our grandfathers and grandmothers brought to this country.”
Tempelman added that they were so thankful for the beautiful weather out on Sunday and believe there were probably anywhere from 3,500 to 5,000 people attending for the day.
“We’re very thankful for that and we still have lots of (the) day left, lots of entertainment and tomorrow will be more of a lot of the same things, so we invite the community to come out and see us here at festa,” said Tempelman.
The festival has a large lineup of local entertainment, an array of Italian cuisine cooked and baked by the Ladies of the Italian Society of Port Arthur, children’s activities, beer gardens and a free draw to win a trip for two to Italy planned over the next two days.
It will also have spaghetti, watermelon and jello eating contests the following day.
Lillian Tsekouras attended the festival on Sunday alongside Daniela Barrett and her family.
When asked about her favourite part of the festival, Tsekouras said she would definitely say the Thunder Bay community and the food.
“It’s great every year,” Tsekouras said. “And my cousin’s dancing in the Le Stelle Alpine (Italian Dancers). So, it’s nice to all come together this year.”
For Barrett, she said on Sunday, it would be the entertainment and also the food, which “of course is a good part.”
“My family immigrated to Canada in the 1950s,” added Barrett. “So, I’m just here for Italian pride as well.”
Festa Italiana will continue to run from 12:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday with another packed schedule of events.
Visitors can find more information on the festival and its schedule online.
