Green Sheet
Tips for indulging your senses at Festa Italiana this weekend.
This weekend’s Festa Italiana is designed to indulge all of the senses:
❚ Listen to Tony Award winner Anthony Crivello sing Broadway favorites and dig into his Louis Prima songbook.
❚ Watch the Flag-Throwers of Sermoneta, Italy, demonstrate a folkloric art with roots that go back a millennium.
❚ Smell and taste the customary delights of sausage, spaghetti and caprese salad, and sample the unexpected, such as a variety of pinsas from Trattoria Di Carlo, including roasted eggplant, Italian sausage and chocolate variations.
❚ Feel a compact bocce ball in your hand as you roll it down a lawn court.
This annual celebration of Italian heritage takes place Friday through Sunday at Maier Festival Park (the Summerfest grounds).
In addition to Milwaukee native Crivello, musical headliners include The Sicilian Tenors, female harmony trio Tre Bella and Italian rock band FLEMT. Each act performs daily during the festival.
Enjoy a Venetian touch with a gondola ride ($25 per person, $30 per couple).
Take in the signature Italian Heritage Photo and Pompeii Church exhibits, with more than 2,500 photos of Italian-American life and history in Milwaukee. (The festival began 41 years ago as a celebration of local Italian-American unity following neighborhood disruptions caused by freeway expansion and other changes.)
A parade featuring Pinocchio, Geppetto and other characters begins at 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on the north end. Children also can enjoy free rides at the carnival, also on the north end.
Italian Idol spotlights brave amateur singers 14 and older in karaoke competition, culminating in a final concert at 8:15 p.m. Sunday, with cash prizes for three winners.
Take a scene selfie or family photo at the Coliseum display, the Marco Venetian Tower or the replica statue of
Michelangelo’s David.
Fireworks go off each night of the festival about 10:30 p.m.
A Catholic Mass begins at 11 a.m. Sunday in the American Family Insurance Amphitheater. Admission to the Mass is free; non-perishable donations to Hunger Task Force are encouraged.