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The Italian Market has not officially been blessed in over two years, so we are excited to welcome back the Procession of Saints on May 22! It is a tradition that stems back centuries and that took place in every Italian & Mexican village. It was (and still is) a time where the church and communities came together to honor faith. The Procession of...

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New York City definitely has the largest Italian American population in the nation, yet Philadelphia is in second place. Italian Americans in the city primarily live in South Philadelphia. Many Italian immigrants began arriving in South Philadelphia from the northern Italian regions of Liguria and Veneto in the 1860s. According to the 1870 census,...

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Michelle Gambino, the producer of the South 9th Street Italian Market Festival, shared painful words Wednesday about how that festival - one of the traditional events of South Philadelphia - will be halted again after an initial postponement from May until September.  "We were hoping that this event would be like a comeback event...a post COVID com...

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The owners of Nannie Franco's Pizza decided to remove the mural of former mayor Frank Rizzo of Philadelphia from the side of their building. As their new project is being funded by online fund-seeking to replace the mural, we would like to step in and make a suggestion to paint a mural of Mother Cabrini. Mother Cabrini, the saint of immigrants, is...

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Hours after the statue of Frank Rizzo was removed from the steps of the city’s Municipal Services Building, officials announced they would replace the mural of the controversial former Philadelphia mayor and police commissioner near the Italian Market in South Philadelphia.  “Together, The S. 9th Street Shopping District, the property owners and th...

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South Philadelphia's Italian Market is the oldest continuously operating open air market in the United States, a surviving enclave of the American immigrant experience. While most neighborhoods undergo dramatic change after more than a century, the distinct character of the Italian Market has survived since it opened in 1891. A new episode of PBS'...

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Depending on how die-hard the annual traditionalist or curious the newcomer, on Christmas Eve morning, Philly’s Italian Market will start seeing long lines for its specialty goods before 6 a.m. That’s the deal. You want something? Get up early. Brave the cold. No line, however, will be longer and louder than the one for Ninth Street’s oldest shop,...

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Unless you go there all the time, Philly’s Italian Market is probably not what you’re thinking it is. Sure, you can still pick up some fresh produce here during the day and a plate of spaghetti at Villa de Roma. But the neighborhood has been changing for years (maybe one day its name will change, too). Lately, it is one of Philly’s most eclectic fo...

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Smack in the middle of the annual Italian Market Festival in South Philadelphia Saturday, some 30 men gathered to play half-ball — a game with a local history spanning about 70 years that calls for a broomstick, a three-story building, and half of a squishy ball. Split into teams of five people, these men comprised the 10th annual John Marzano Half...

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Philadelphia may be called a "city of neighborhoods,” but it’s also a city of robust public spaces. From Dilworth Park to the four original “squares,” The Porch to Penn’s Landing, they are the lifeblood of our walkable, human-scale city. But often missing from this conversation is another important public space — our streets. This has been brought...

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