ISDA National Conventions Rise to New Heights in Cleveland This August
This is your invitation to join our 2021 biennial conventions, for both the Order and Fraternal Association, which will be held at the chic Hilton Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio from Aug. 7th to Aug. 11th. See full schedule of events here. The Ohio District, under the leadership of ISDA Vice President Marie Frank, will host the conventions, and the commi...
Taylor Street Little Italy festival canceled for 2nd year in row amid COVID, worker shortage
An annual festival in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood has been canceled for a second straight year, largely to avoid further stressing vendors already struggling to find workers, organizers said. The Taylor Street Little Italy Festa, which typically draws tens of thousands of people to the neighborhood in mid to late August, was canceled last y...
Keeping the culture alive
Tami Cashioli’s Italian heritage has always been important to her. It was growing up in an Italian household in Lisbon where Sunday dinners were a tradition of ethnic food, family and fellowship. And it continues in her involvement in the Undo’s Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival in Wheeling as well as her commitment to the Steubenville-based Itali...
Little Italy Bringing Back Feast of the Assumption for 2021
Get ready to feast on some Italian food, Cleveland. Little Italy’s popular Feast of the Assumption festival will return this August, according to a press statement from Mayor Frank Jackson. It follows the festival’s cancelation in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. “For more than 120 years, Holy Rosary Parish’s Feast of the Assumption celebrati...
Italian Street Festival returns to Indy with more than 25 Italian dishes
You can get a taste of more than 25 different Italian meats, pastas, salads and desserts at the Holy Rosary Italian Street Festival. Lisa Meister, kitchen team lead of the Holy Rosary Italian Street Festival Committee, joined us today to show how some of the festival favorites are made. She says they’re also looking for volunteers. Here’s more from...
The Little-Known History Behind Cleveland’s Guardians of Traffic
The mammoth Guardians of Traffic, sculpted with an Art Deco flair on four Berea sandstone pylons, have been overseeing the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, otherwise known as the Hope Memorial Bridge, since 1932. They’re locally iconic, but this past week the statues were cast in a national spotlight as sports pundits and MLB fans weighed in when Cleveland...
Festa Italiana to bring Italian flavors to Miller, benefit St. Mary of the Lake
Festa Italiana is bringing a parade and all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner to Gary's lakefront Miller neighborhood. A parade down Lake Street from East Third Avenue to Miller Avenue will take place at 3 p.m. on Aug. 7. A double-decker bus, the Jesse White Tumblers from Chicago, motorcycles and antique cars all will likely take part in the procession...
Mount Carmel Basilica hosts second concert to replace annual festival
Mount Carmel Basilica hosted its Italian fest Sunday evening in a different way. Normally, the fest is held in the church’s parking lot. When the event was planned in January, the church wanted to be safe with the pandemic. So instead, they held a concert in the church’s event center for their parishioners. “Monsignor wanted to bring people back in...
Italian Americans gather in Little Italy to demand Christopher Columbus statues be put back
Hundreds of people gathered at a park in Little Italy on Sunday afternoon to demand that the three Christopher Columbus statues that were removed last summer be put back. During the rally at Arrigo Park, Italian American leaders called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to return the statue that was removed from the park one year ago. A second statue was rem...
Get your Italian on at Naperville Festa Italiana
After a year hiatus, Festa Italiana returns to Naper Settlement with lower admission prices, lots of food and a lineup of popular bands. “We’ve had some exciting changes this year. This year it’s free until 5 (p.m.). And if you’re a Naperville resident it’s $5 all weekend long with proof of residency and $10 for anybody after 5 o’clock,” said Miche...
Festa Italiana returns to Villa Cesare in Schererville
People looking to get the flavor of Italian cities such as Palermo, Rome and Venice do not have to travel far, as Festa Italiana in Schererville offers exactly that. After canceling the 2020 festival due to concerns regarding coronavirus, Villa Cesare Events & Banquets presents the free annual event July 30-Aug 1 outdoors. “Our volunteers are excit...
Lucchesi to honor Ciminello, Leonardi Juarez
The Lucchesi Nel Mondo will honor Paul Ciminello and Lilia Leonardi Juarez as Man and Woman of the Year at their annual banquet on Aug. 28 at the Mazzini Verdi Club. The following profiles were provided by the organization. Paul Ciminello Paul Ciminello has been a member of the Lucchesi Nel Mondo Association for over 25 years. Paul left his home o...