A little taste of Italy right in the heart of Seattle
Seattle’s 34th Annual Festa Italiana the only “in-person” event of 2021, in the beautiful Fisher Pavilion and the surrounding grounds and buildings of the Seattle Center.
Saturday & Sunday, September 25 & 26, 2021.
Before COVID the Italian Festival has always been the largest Italian-American event in the Northwest and one of the largest cultural festivals in Washington State.
Since 1988, Festa Italiana has been celebrating the cultural roots and history of Italians and Italian-Americans in the Pacific Northwest.
It’s a connection to a long tradition of passion, excellence, and accomplishment. As each generation of American moves further away from its immigrant origins, it becomes more and more urgent to recognize the talents and gifts that they have contributed to their adopted country by way of their heritage.
Food is the central to the Italian character. Italian restaurants are ubiquitous throughout the world, pasta and pizza can be ordered everywhere.
This festival means a lot for the Americans with Italian background, because they recognize the contributions of their ancestors and they pass on a sense of Italian pride to their children and grandchildren.
This year all the guests were excited to be gathering again and happy to celebrate “The Joys of All Things Italian!” by promoting the arts, the food and the culture that are uniquely Italian. There were cooking demos, a classic car show, a dog show, and a world-famous “Grape Stomp” which must be seen to be believed.
My Husband and I have been living in the United States since October 2017 and we are learning something new every day about this dream country, and we had never attended an Italian Festival at all. We didn’t know about this until the day before. Now we are very happy we decided to go.
We left our car all day, in the nearest parking lot and spent a very good time between the Seattle Center and the Waterfront.
Saturday 25th was a nice and sunny day so first of all we did a little walk around the big International Fountain.
There were many seagulls flying between the jets of water, having fun and almost touching the people who were looking at the rainbow hanging over the fountain.
Every time I saw the rainbow I needed to stop and take a photo. A multitude of colors, each layer vibrant and clear by itself, but in unison, breathtaking. For me, it’s God’s gift to our joy.
Close to the fountain we couldn’t fail to notice the bright red of the Ferrari on the green of the grass.
There was the Italian Car Show, exhibition of the most famous: Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Lamborghini. It would have been really nice to take a ride in one of those cars!!!
Italians have contributed a unique combination of elegance, beauty, style, and speed to the sports car.
The Italian romance with the automobile began with the turn of the 20th century. For the Italian, cars were more than just pieces of metal with an engine inside; the car had heart and soul.
About Enzo Ferrari, he was a young man when he joined the Alfa-Romeo in 1920, then he left in 1929 and he started his own line of cars, which have become the benchmark for all automobile of superior quality. Everyone knows that Ferrari is the most successful car company at creating exposure, demand, and exclusivity.
Now, can you believe that 26 years ago, we were here in Seattle, on our honeymoon, and we were going around with a very nice and red Ferrari?
It was like a dream, but the Ferrari wasn’t ours, but my husband’s cousin; so sweet from him to let my husband drove it half day just for fun!
In the Fisher Pavilion Courtyard, there was the big outdoor Wine & Beer Garden and the Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria truck! And of course, featuring strolling musicians playing Italian favorites in the sunshine.
We found out where the pizzeria truck was, before we saw it, because the smell was so good!
In Italy we have some special breed for dog, trained to find Truffle called “cani da tartufo”, Italian people are like those dogs about pizza! I’m just kidding, I think everyone can find a pizzeria following the smell!!!!
“When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore”
Dean Martin sang this famous Harry Warren tune, forever associating pizza with love, because pizza in Naples is a soul food.
There is even an Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, that certifies restaurants making Neapolitan pizza, and Tutta Bella has this certification. The pizza was really good. The secret of a great pizza is its simplicity and the use of fresh ingredients. But, pizza is not pizza unless the crust is memorable.
My Margherita pizza had very fresh ingredients, a paper-thin crust, crisp and well done on the bottom, and soft and well cooked on top. I was in heaven!!
Getting the crust to the right consistency is an art form, and the wood-fired ovens, which have always been used in Italy are the best to reach the right temperature.
Our pizza was really good, like just we were back in Naples.
Then I tried the pizza toss and I got very lucky, and I won my beautiful Tutta Bella hat!!!
In the Fisher Pavilion with a nice view of the Moretti Main stage , there were a lot of vendor booths about: Italian organizations, arts and crafts, imported housewares, and lots of merch & souvenirs, Ice Cream, Espresso, Olive Oils , Balsamic, Wines, and Italian Sodas.
We stopped at the first booths Big John’s , because there was the famous Italian card game “Scopa”, the sweet lady -Sorry, I don’t remember her name- was telling us about this game and I told her that we played it a lot in Italy and I have great memories with my grandma since I was a child.
She has many older family members in Italy and she is missing being able to see them because of Covid. She said that unfortunately she never learned how to speak Italian but she loves hearing this language because is like a dance, a sweet melody. She was so happy going back in her mind, to her grandma’s house, where the day began and ended with this music. For sure she remember that a lovely Buon giorno is on everyone’s lips in the morning and when the day ends and the night falls, a gentle Buona sera is the greeting.
All the magic of Italy is contained in its wonderful language, but she didn’t forget the hand gesture, which is as important as the language!
She laughed while she was telling about the time that her grandma was talking and gesticulating wildly with the neighbor. They were not just talking, they were giving life to the words. The funny thing was that, even if she didn’t speak a word of Italian she got a sense of what was being conveyed just because the gesture. Her family is from the south Italy, as we are.
One more thing she reminds of and loves about the Italian culture is when two Italians meet, a mere handshake will not suffice, the two parties must embrace and give the other a friendly kiss on each check.
All she loves about Italy is something we love too, but when she was talking we realized that for us is just the way it is, nothing special like was for her. Maybe this America adventure is giving us the chance to understand better and appreciate more of our roots. We are starting to miss all this, maybe telling you about the Italian conviviality, I can remember and bring back all the feelings that comes with.
We stopped to the DanteAlighieri Society booth and there, we were pinning Caserta (our City) on the Italian map and we met Joyce. We talked a little about Tombola, because we saw some pictures about people playing this game, very old and traditional Christmas game.
She was so kind, explaining us about this Society, it embraces all who enjoy all things Italian and desire to expand their knowledge of a beautiful country. Promoting Italian language and culture they organize English and Italian programs with twice-monthly meeting, sharing the wondrous art, history, literature, music and cuisine of Italy. Furthermore this Society hosts an annual Christmas party and wine dinner, where they play the Tombola game too.
It will be fun this Christmas if we can participate in the party!!
From the Moretti Main stage we enjoyed a lot of the performance from the Midnight Duo (before was Trio) with old and traditional Italian song that took me back in time. From tarantellas to opera, from traditional to Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra.
I could see me as a child in the backyard with my father playing the accordion and my mom and our friends dancing and clapping.
Some songs tore a few tears from me because my mom’s voice came back to my ears as she sang them while dad played the accordion.
Saying a simple thank you to the Midnight Duo is not enough for giving me these emotions and this journey back in time. I could have spent hours there and even the whole day listening to them and dreaming of my parents.
Italians are great entertainers, the contribution by Italian to American popular music is another source of pride. Dean Martin infused American popular music with songs that had a distinctly Italian flavor like “That’s Amore”, “Volare” “In Napoli”.
Music is a passion deep within the soul of every proud Italian.
The Midnight Duo played a little bit of “La Traviata”, an opera from Giuseppe Verdi.
The opera has become popular in America, too; because it was the theme of the radio and television drama. Opera is about passion, drama, and emotion, so it’s not surprising , that something so dramatic, emotional and intense was born in Italy.
Located on the Fisher Terrace — the rooftop of the Fisher Pavilion there was “La Cucina Galbani” Cooking Stage, where local chefs from Seattle’s best Italian restaurants did some cooking demos.
We had the class with Chef Marco Nocco from Tutta Bella Neapoletan Pizzeria. He did potatoes gnocchi from scratch and a really good sauce with tomatoes and the Isernio’s sausage.
He asked if there was someone sitting there who usually does gnocchi at home, “I said yes, of course” but there weren’t so many.
Doing gnocchi at home is something that I love because it’s relaxing, it’s a delicious dish that everybody loves, and it’s the time for me to feel close to my mom. She made gnocchi almost every Sunday, she made gnocchi for big picnic with family and friends. I love to make gnocchi, too.
On the same stage we had a class with Dimitria from “Grate Board”
Was very interesting for me, she showed how to style a cheese board, the way to make the perfect one, pairing the food and the colors.
Her boards are fabulous creations and closer to an Italian antipasto then a charcuterie.
Let me tell you a little about this two different things.
The Italian antipasto is a combination of Italian cured meats, cheeses, olives, vegetables, and breads. The perfect showpiece for any gathering but the contents can vary depending on what region of Italy you’re in.
The charcuterie boards traditionally consist of meat and cheese, where the Italian antipasto also contains a lot of veggies.
The good tips that she taught us are:
-we can assemble the board in advance and tightly cover and chill, then we will take it out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before we serve it.
-we should assemble no more than 8 hours in advance
-never add the bread, because it become stale in the fridge
How about beverages? There were white and red wines, beer, limoncello, sambuca, and two Italian sparkling waters.
But the funniest thing was the Festa Grape Stomp, three teams each one with three people, had to compete for a free T-shirt.
They had to jump with both bare feet and make wine.
The winner team was the one who collected more juice in the jug.
Outside in the Tino’s Cortile there were many traditional children’s activities and “All Breeds” Italian Dog Show.
After that full immersion in the Italian things thanks to Festa Italiana, we felt like home.
For us, Italian, the food is something special, it’s a connection that moves in a fluid circle in our life.
The food played in my life since I was child.
My creativity like architect always drives me to something about the food.
The food drives me to another important part of my all life, the family.
The food is like glue in the family.
The tradition in the Italian family is to make the food together and sit down as a family. That’s one of the biggest things in Italy, we sit down every single night and eat together no matter what type of schedule we have for the day.
Ciao