It took a village to make the Bella Italia Market a huge success — nearly 50 members of the community volunteered hundreds of hours of their time toward organizing and assisting at the event, held to benefit future heritage, educational and cultural programs sponsored by the Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center, Inc.

From an idea initiated and executed by local fashion designer Franca Bartoli to bring Italian excellence to our nation’s capital, and nurtured for nearly two years by a dedicated core group of volunteers, the market of Italian creativity became a reality this past weekend at  Casa Italiana. A ribbon-cutting ceremony opened the Bella Italia Market with Fr. Ezio Marchetto making welcoming remarks.