The
Sons of Italy 2008 Italian Festival Directory
Overview
| Locate Festivals by State
| Locate Festivals by Month
This directory lists 448 Italian festivals held in 35 states and the District of Columbia between February and December of this year. The directory supplies each festival's name, month, city, state and contact information.
The directory was compiled by the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), based on the research of Paul Porcelli, who is filming these festivals and plans to write a book about them.
The custom of honoring favorite saints with outdoor ceremonies was brought to America more than 100 years ago by the early Italian immigrants. The festivals vary in size and character. Some consist of only the saint's statue, a band and a procession while others are colossal celebrations that last several days and include symphonic bands, entertainers, food stands, rides and fireworks. A familiar sight at most festivals is the saint's statue covered with money or jewelry, later donated to the local church or saint's society.
The oldest festival is believed to be the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Hammonton, NJ, which this year celebrated its 133rd anniversary in July. The biggest festival is the Feast of San Gennaro held every September in New York City, which attracts about one million people. Other large festivals are in Milwaukee ("Festa Italiana" in July) and Clarksburg, West Virginia (the Italian Heritage Festival in August).
The five states with the most festivals are: New York (91); New Jersey (70); Pennsylvania (66); Illinois (33); and Massachusetts (32). Other states with significant numbers of festivals include California (30), Ohio (22), Connecticut (22) and Rhode Island (13).
Italian festivals are held coast to coast, including Maine, Alabama, Louisiana, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada, Washington state, Texas, Florida, Michigan, South Carolina, Virginia, Oregon and the District of Columbia.
Some festivals include such traditional events as the flight of the angels (the Feast of the Madonna del Soccorso di Sciacca in Boston in August; the Feast of Our Lady of Laurentana in Berwyn, IL in September); the greased pole contest (the Feast of St. Peter in Gloucester, MA in June; the Feast of Saint Rocco in Malden, MA in August); and the Dance of the Lily, in which about 100 men carry a five-ton platform through the streets for hours (in Brooklyn, East Harlem and Massapequa in June and July).
The Sons of Italy directory is free. It can be found on the OSIA Web site at http://www.osia.org/public/pdf/2008_festival_directory.pdf. For a printed copy, send a large (9" x 12"), self-addressed envelope with $2.05 in stamps on it to:
Sons
of Italy Festival Directory
219 E Street N.E.
Washington, DC 20002
Fax: 202/547-1492
e-mail:
kcafiero@osia.org
Established in 1905, OSIA has more than 600,000 members and supporters and a network of more than 700 chapters coast to coast. It is the largest and oldest national organization for people of Italian descent in the country.
OSIA works at the community, national and international level to promote the heritage and culture of an estimated 26 million Italian Americans, the nation's fifth largest ethnic group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
OSIA is deeply grateful to Paul Porcelli for his generosity in sharing his festival information with us. It is the result of many years of research, enormous effort and considerable expense on his part to fulfill his mission to capture these tradition-laden ceremonies on film and in print.
The
Sons of Italy
2008 ITALIAN FESTIVAL DIRECTORY
Compiled by the Order Sons of Italy in America, Washington, DC
STATE-BY-STATE TALLY
|
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Illinois
Massachusetts
California
Connecticut
Ohio
Rhode Island
Florida
Texas
Maryland
Colorado
Missouri
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Alabama
Delaware
Kentucky
Virginia
Washington State
Louisiana
Nebraska
Nevada
Oregon
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Maine
Michigan
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Utah
TOTAL:
|
91
70
66
33
32
30
22
22
13
7
7
5
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
448
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