Close

In Italy, Christmas means many things to many people, but one thing everyone can agree on is that food plays a big role. If you want to do Christmas Italian-style, here are the food and drinks you need for a truly festive feast. The evening meal on Christmas Eve (La Vigilia) is traditionally based around fish, as a meat-free day before the decadenc...

892

“Hey, chingedy ching, hee-haw, hee-haw.” If you spend your holidays in New Jersey — or if you grew up in an Italian-American household just about anywhere — you already know the next line, for better or worse: “it’s Dominick The Donkey,” of course! Some folks absolutely love the kitschy Christmas tune about Dominick, the well-tempered Italian Chris...

2973

For more than 20 years creating the famed presepio, or Italian Nativity scene, at St. Ann Church has been a labor of love for Vincenzo Santarmarco. At 77, Santamarco, is long retired from his days working in the construction trades as a mason. But he brings these and other mechanical skills to life in assembling a fully motorized Nativity scene, wi...

1382

As the Holiday Season approaches, I wish to extend to you and your families my best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. During this time we ponder the events of the past months, reflect upon the outcomes, and start planning future projects. In 2017 Italy has been on the forefront of the International scene, as Chair of the G7 and a M...

1166

On a recent cold and gray December Sunday, dozens of Italian families gathered to celebrate a Sicilian Christmas cookie at Casa Italia, the Italian cultural center in west suburban Stone Park. Little known outside Italian-American communities, the fig-stuffed treats, called cuccidati, are loved enough to warrant their own festival, now in its secon...

3940

“Natale a New York” (“Christmas in New York”): Maybe it’s best to start somewhere familiar.There are loads of movies about Christmas in New York, and Italy’s lineup is no exception. “Natale a New York” (literally, “Christmas in New York”) is a pretty straightforward wacky comedy about just that. The film revolves around a wide cast of characters an...

1806

Naples' Christmas artisans are at it again, turning figures from current events into ceramic characters to decorate miniature Nativity scenes that take over Italian living rooms this time of year. Hot sellers this year include Jedi warriors from the new Star Wars movie and statuettes of U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and...

803

The Marineria di Cesenatico Nativity returns every year to Leonardo’s Port-Canal, speaking volumes about the small Adriatic town’s life with a poetic, traditional representation of Jesus’s birth. The storytelling is imbued with the lightness of the statues that make up this wonderful, floating show: a lightness that is both creative choice and tech...

807

Dozens of rowers dressed as Father Christmas raced down Venice's Grand Canal on Sunday, cheered on by crowds gathered to watch the annual fancy-dress regata. Organised by the University Ca' Foscari, the eighth edition of the race set off from Saint Mark's Square, with champions and amateurs competing in traditional "mascarete" boats -- once the dom...

1593

It doesn't get more Italian-American than Pizza of the Seven Fishes. The dish is the pizza of the month at Slice, a Philadelphia-area restaurant which has been making it every December for the past four years. The pizza is a twist on the traditional Christmas Eve dinner for Italian-Americans, Feast of the Seven Fishes. "That is my family tradition,...

972