Incoronata feast to celebrate landmark anniversary
The Feast of Maria SS. Incoronata is a testimony to the power of faith. The celebration has survived for a century and a quarter at the same location, despite the transformation of the community from a thriving Italian enclave into one of the nation’s premier Chinatowns. First celebrated in 1897, the feast was launched to help organize immigrants f...
Lauretana feast extends long history of devotion
The Feast of Maria SS. Lauretana will celebrate 122 years of continuous devotion to the Blessed Mother over the Labor Day weekend. The feast will once again be celebrated on Church Street between Greenwood and Cumberland in Niles, on the south side of the Golf Mill Shopping Center. Festivities culminate on Sept. 4 with a procession at 9 a.m. and Ma...
Director Joe Russo to bartend at TOLI in Little Italy this weekend
Film director Joe Russo is returning home this weekend to pour drinks during the Feast of the Assumption celebration in Cleveland’s Litty Italy. Russo, who along with his brother Anthony, is one half of the most commercially successful directing duo in movie history, will serve as a guest celebrity bartender at TOLI on Saturday. You can find him on...
Family Tradition: Marching the Oldest Banner in Little Italy's Feast of the Assumption Procession
The Cirinos — descendants of the DeMarco family — meet at Presti’s Bakery on Mayfield Road in Cleveland’s Little Italy, just beside the stoic Holy Rosary Church. Like a scene from Cheaper by the Dozen, a small army of children run between and around my feet. The adults of the family speak to me all at once, interjecting with each other, cracking jo...
Janice Longone, chronicler of US culinary history, dies
Janice Bluestein Longone, who is credited with collecting thousands of items chronicling the culinary history of the United States, including cookbooks, menus, advertisements and diaries, has died at age 89. Longone died Wednesday, according to Nie Family Funeral Home in Ann Arbor. The cause and location of death weren’t announced. Longone’s collec...
Meet the woman behind Amici Italiani, the Rockford dance troupe that keeps tradition alive
A 1985 newspaper article about Shirley Fedeli's quest for dancers for her fledging dance troupe is the origin of Bea Ricotta's love for Amici Italiani. "My mom saw it and said, 'You like to dance. Why don't you do this?'" Ricotta found the dancing and the camaraderie to be so much fun that the dancers donned their costumes and danced the following...
Visual Arts: Exhibit's Raphael tapestries weave powerful New Testament stories
Six enormous, stunning tapestries designed by the Italian Renaissance master Raphael are being shown for the first time in the United States at the Columbus Museum of Art. “Raphael — The Power of Renaissance Imagery: The Dresden Tapestries and their Impact,” which continues through Oct. 30, is a collaboration between the Columbus museum and the Dre...
The Feast of the Assumption Returns to Little Italy Aug. 15
Since 1936, members of the DeMarco family have donned matching green, white and red dresses and gathered for the Feast of the Assumption — returning Aug. 15 for its 123rd year — as a nod to their rich heritage. “We can’t stop the tradition,” says Victoria Cirino McNamara, 77, granddaughter of Carmela DeMarco, the first family member to walk in the...
Italian American group wants statues returned by Columbus Day, protected at taxpayer expense
The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans said Wednesday it’s putting the final touches on a plan to return by Columbus Day and protect — at city expense — statues of Christopher Columbus that Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered removed from Grant and Arrigo parks two years ago. President Ron Onesti said the plan — devised by a "national security fir...
Italian festival returns to Akron's Lock 3 with Taste of Italia Thursday through Saturday
Akron's Italian-American Festival is back with the city-sponsored family event Taste of Italia Thursday through Saturday at Lock 3 in downtown Akron. The festival will include authentic Italian food, including pizza, sausage and peppers, espresso, cannoli and Peroni beer. Guests can also enjoy assorted wines and a game of bocci. Admission is free...
Italian Festival in Youngstown this weekend
The Greater Youngstown Italian Festival will take place Friday through Sunday, Aug. 5-7, along four blocks of Federal Street, downtown. The event typically draws approximately 50,000 people over its three days. It will feature food from over 30 Italian restaurants and food vendors, continuous entertainment on two stages, retail vendors, a morra tou...
Festa Italiana to feature MasterChef finalist, eating contests, grape-stomping 'and much amore'
This year's Festa Italiana in Schererville will feature a celebrity chef, Italian food, eating contests, grape stomping bocce ball "and much Amore." The annual Italian festival will take place at Villa Cesare Banquets & Events at 900 Eagle Ridge Drive in Schererville the weekend of Aug. 5. It will feature live entertainment, family-friendly activit...