With the start of fall comes plenty of treats, good company and outdoor entertainment to help ring in the new season. And this weekend, Festa Italiana greets fall with plenty of reasons to celebrate.

Ginnie Lostumbo and Linda DeFrancisco, the president and founders of Festa Italiana, are excited to kick off the 20th anniversary of the festival this weekend. But beyond the platefuls of meatballs and traditional music comes a greater emphasis on family.

“We wanted to focus on family and have chosen to bring a lot of performers back who have performed for us in the past,” Lostumbo said.

 The three-day event features a series of live music performances, along with bocce tournaments and meatball-eating contests. For visitors looking to indulge in some traditional dishes, there will be food trucks offering authentic Italian cuisine, wine and beer. Sunday will close out the event with a free bocce training in the afternoon, along with a Roman Catholic Mass on Sunday morning.

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“We’re going to have a heritage tent, which is in the atrium building, that will have displays of local Italian places from years ago,” Lostumbo said. “The festival will also include a selection of key speakers as well as a collection of demonstrations.”

For visitors looking to bring some of the authentic food experience back home with them, recipes from the festival will be made available for purchase in their new cookbook, “Festa Italiana Syracuse 2018: Treasured Italian Recipes.”

While the heritage and culture of Festa Italiana brings people in, the atmosphere keeps them there.

“It’s the people. I went to La Festa last year and mostly remember how friendly everyone was,” said Anna Nguyen, a senior in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and frequent festival attendee. “We were all just having a great time walking around, eating and participating.”

The festival also caters to its diverse audience of older and younger visitors by providing an assortment of entertainment, food and plenty of seating. The festival is geared toward acknowledging and celebrating Italian heritage, but it welcomes everyone from different backgrounds and experiences.

“We have over 300 volunteers and they are all from diverse backgrounds and beliefs, but in the end, we all are a family and I think that is what makes Festa Italiana such an important event,” Lostumbo said.

Michael Amante, a Syracuse native and musician, will be performing an hour-long set on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Amante previously performed at the festival in the early 2000s and said coming back for the performance was an easy transition.

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“I actually grew up in Syracuse,” he said, laughing. “I was in a lot of rock bands and other groups but moved out of the city looking for some sunshine. But of course, it’s always great to come back,” he said.

Amante has been performing and singing for nearly 50 years and now performs in six different languages.

“Music has always been a part of me,” Amante said. “I’ve never been into sports or things of that nature, it was always art and music that drew me.”

The prospect of good food might bring people to the festival, but the music is one of the things that sticks with them while they’re there.

“I always like seeing who is going to perform for that year,” Nguyen said. “I like hearing the authentic Italian music even though it’s not my culture.”

The beauty of the festival, Lostumbo said, is that it’s not only accommodating for people from all walks of life, but also works to ensure everyone is included and has an experience worth remembering.

“It means a lot to be able to keep this tradition up,” Lostumbo said.

Festa Italiana runs from Sept. 14 through Sept. 16 in downtown Syracuse.

Published on September 9, 2018 at 11:43 pm

Contact Leah: ltoney@syr.edu