The eighth annual Festa Italiana took place this past Sunday on Third and F streets near Chinatown. Each year the Festa focuses on a specfic region of Italy, and this year, it concentrated on Torino, the location of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Among the volunteers at the event were some of AU's own. Karen DiGiovanni is AU's Director of Teacher Education, and she served on the board in charge of planning and organizing the Festa, and coordinating volunteers.
DiGiovanni recruited several AU students to assist in the day's festivities. Two alums of the College of Arts and Sciences, Cecilia D'Antonio and Nina Ableson, assisted DiGiovanni in a mask-making activity for children. The Venetian-style masks were not specific to this year's Torino theme but were still worn proudly by several youngsters who ran around the festival.
The students who volunteered at the event all are somehow involved in AU's School of Education. Two alumni, Jackie Sawyer and Aria Bailey, and one undergraduate junior in the School of International Service, Rosalind Lynam, helped stuff the cream filling into cannoli.
"I was asked by Karen [DiGiovanni] if I would want to volunteer. She told me about the festival, and it seemed like a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon," Lynam explained.
Lynam's grandfather is also Italian, another reason why the festival appealed to her.
Stacy Lehmann, a graduate student in the School of Education, helped serve risotto to the crowd.
"Ms. DiGiovanni and I were discussing the fact that I am training to run a marathon in Italy, and she told me that she needed volunteers for the festival and that she was on the board. Oh yeah, and I also drive a Vespa. That's about as Italian as I get," Lehmann said.
In past years the festival has drawn a crowd of nearly 3,000 people. This year the crowd was significantly smaller due to poor weather, particularly toward the end of the day.
However, people of all ages attended the event. Senior citizens sat drinking wine and listening to live performances of traditional songs. College students eating gelato browsed through the stands selling jewelry and T-shirts. Parents with young children played bocce ball.
Another board member, Erika Pontarelli Compart, said the Festa Italiana is important for the district.
"[Festa] is a great opportunity for the local Italian community and people who appreciate Italian culture to come together and celebrate," Compart said. "Unlike some other festivals, we place a great deal of emphasis on culture and education, in addition to great food and entertainment. We want people to come away from the festival having learned something interesting about Italy, Italian culture and the Italian language"
