Festa!

I’m not festival-ed out just yet, so I made my annual visit to Festa Italiana. Again, it proved to be one of my favorite summertime events.

Before I ventured to the festival grounds I checked off the following things:
1. Stretchy pants. The same kind I wear for Thanksgiving dinner (I tend to gorge myself at festivals).
2. Growling stomach (Again, I’m a pig, so I need room to pack it in).
3. Italian garb
4. Practical walking shoes
5. Light clothing (the day I attend always seems to be the hottest. It’s ridiculous!)

Of all the ethnic festivals in the city, this is the biggest event to take place on the Summerfest grounds since, er, Summerfest. Festa (as locals proudly call it) is renowned for its food, entertainment, and traditions.

I’m nearly half Italian, so besides feeling a certain closeness to the Sopranos, Joe Paterno, and Mark Ruffalo (also a Wisconsin native), I’m always excited to celebrate my heritage at Festa, and even MORE thrilled to share the fun with my good friend Sarah (also of Polish-Italian descent).

It was hot, yet breezy upon our arrival (not the typical scorcher). From a distance the festival grounds looked just like Summerfest, but as we made our way around the Festa souvenir tents, we were engulfed by the sea of green, white and red; as well as, the sounds of crooners singing “That’s Amore” and renditions of Rosemary Clooney’s “Mambo Italiano.”

Immediately en route to find lunch, we noticed the wealth of options. There were so  many restaurants ready to fuel the masses by whipping up a variety of authentic Italian dishes. It was a difficult decision to make - eggplant parmigiano, baked ziti, toasted ravioli, paninis, calamari, meatballs, and Italian beef sandwiches – that’s not even half of it. Not to mention we HAD to get dessert – cannolis, éclairs, tiramisu, gelato, amaretto puffs – our stomachs, as planned, were growling!

Sarah and I chose our favorite, spinach lasagna from Cataldo’s. We also decided to indulge in the sfingi with cannoli cream filling. Delizioso! After fighting through the crowd we found an open picnic table next to the lake that overlooked the new island park. As Sarah and I played catch-up and munched on our lunch, I overheard Ariondassa, a classic folk band coming our way down the lakefront path.

Marching trumpets, tubas, and snare drums lead the way for the port-o-shrine (not sure if that’s the technical term). Sarah and I stopped to admire the floral beds that the figures and shrines road on, and then finished our sfingi.

Following the parade, we traveled to the southeastern side of the grounds passing gelato stands and several people who spoke with thick Italian accents. That reminded me of when I was in Little Italy and had a conversation with a short Italian man with a thick mustache (kind of stereotypical). Only our “conversation” was actually the man talking at me in Italian and me nodding awkwardly.

The southeastern peninsula is my favorite section of Festa. In the center of the spectator area was a huge statue of Michelangelo’s David. Also on the eastern peninsula were many exhibition tents offering a glimpse at Italian immigrants through photographs, more from the port-o-shrine (creepy or cool? You be the judge), history of the Italian opera, and Italian and American-Italian art from across the U.S. and Italy.

The Pompeii Sacred Art Exhibit, which was composed of many religious artifacts from   churches in Pompeii; as well as, vintage photo collections of the historic Third Ward and more that 1,000 photos of past Milwaukee residents. Some photos even dated back to the 1880s. Even though my family came from Venice in the early 1900s and settled in Pittsburgh, each person in the black and white photos resembled one of my distant relatives.

Around the corner of the Sacred Art Exhibit was the Golden Age of Opera tent. This display saluted Italy’s most famous singers, composers, and conductors. After my most recent opera experience, I was able to recognize a few composers and operas by name. There were even headphones where you could listen to snippets of operas. It was very cool.

Towards the south gate and along the lake stood the large and in charge statue of Our Lady of the New Millennium. This 34-foot stainless steel statue of the Virgin Mary was unbelievable. Each year, people come to the foot of this statue to pray. On this day, many people were on their knees doing the same.

Our final stop was the Cucina Showcase where Chef Justin Aprahamian taught us a thing or two about preparing traditional Italian dishes (although Italian cuisine is my specialty). Even after sucking down a spumoni shake minutes before, I was drooling over the wafting scents of meat sauce and stews coming from the Cucina stage.

At the end of the Cucina show, Sarah and I went to watch some bocce ball games near the mid gate. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to show off our bocce skills due to the tournament on Sunday. On the plus side, I’ve been informed that the Italian Community Center has indoor Italian style bowling all year-round. I will definitely check that out this winter! (Thanks for the suggestion).

I removed my bike from the gate near the mid entrance, took the Oak Leaf Trail back to my apartment building, and then mamboed Italiano style up the staircase to my apartment. Bella notte.

Comments

[Kristin]

I have to say that Festa Italiana is definitely my favorite festival in Milwaukee. I may be a little biased, since my grandpa was one of a family of nine kids straight from Sicily... But regardless, this festival is exactly what an ethnic festival should be. I've done some work with the Italian Community Center and the people who help get Festa off the ground every year, and I was told that this year especially they wanted to get back to all things Italian: all Italian food, all Italian music, etc. I think they did a pretty good job doing just that.

This year, I went to the festival Thursday and Sunday nights. I definitely noticed that just about every single food stall featured a local Italian eatery's cuisine, and all the stages had live Italian music blasting out. (Oh man, Dick Contino, despite being 78 years old, can still play a mean accordion.) Both nights that I went, I ran into at least 3 people I'm related to -- oh the beauty of being Italian in Milwaukee -- and had a blast overall.

Karen, I loved your post. I felt like I was walking right beside you through the festival grounds. Thanks. :)

[Amanda]

That lasagna looks delicious! I too love Festa for the food. I thought it was funny that you wore stretchy pants. That's hilarious even if you really didn't. I tend to hit up Festa in the afternoons for lunch and wear my running shorts with the elastic waist. ha-ha. Glad I'm not the only person who pigs out on great Italian food (how could you not with the amount of choices at Festa?)

[Christi]

I wish I didn't have to miss Festa this year. Gelato is seriously one of my favorite things on the planet.

[alba]

I click your pictures and it says IMAGE NOT AVAILABLE. What's up with that?

[KarenC]

Crap. I'll get right on that. They worked last night... sorry guys!

[KarenC]

Alba- the photos should be available now. Thanks for letting me know!
____________________

Christi-
If I wasn't banned from the Whole Foods gelato counter, I'd be as huge as the planet! And if not for head freeze, I’m sure I could eat a whole gallon of it. I haven’t done that yet, but I’m sure I could.

[Teresa]

Do you have any more pics of the religious procession with the statues carried in procession? Please send them to me!!!! The ones you have posted are great! I wanna see more!!!!! [email protected]

[Melanie]

I seriously mean to go to Festa every summer but for some reason I always manage to miss out. It sounds like it was a blast yet again this year.

[sarah]

And much more Italian like Kristin said.

[michael ANTONELLI]

THEY DO A GREAT JOB KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

[Esther LaVerne]

Does anyone recall which restaurants had the amaretto puffs? I have to find a supplier after Festa so I can get my fix...thanks!