The Italian Festival returns to the grounds of St. Anthony of Padua Parish on June 7, looking almost identical to previous years but with a few differences.
The main difference will come right at the beginning of the festival. The feast day Mass, with readings and music in Italian, and procession of saints will take place on opening day, at 12:30 and 2 p.m., respectively, said Anthony Albence, a member of the festival steering committee. Those previously had been held on the closing Sunday, with shortened hours for the event.
The procession harkens back to the original spiritual roots of the parishioners, Albence said. A lot of processions in Italy were dedicated to the patron saint of a region or village.
“It’s changed over the years, certainly, but we still have families are tied to that historically,” he said.
The Italian Festival will be open for a full schedule for all seven days. On the opening Sunday and closing Saturday, the hours are 4-10 p.m. The gates will open at 5:30 each weeknight, a half hour earlier than in recent years.
“The best experience for our patrons would be adjusting our schedule for seven full days,” Albence said.
A main draw for the festival is the food, and that will be largely the same. There is a new vendor, Forte Foods, which is an Italian food distributor, and Luigi and Giovanni, one of the vendors, will be opening an additional café on Scott Street.
There will be three entertainment stages, Albence said. Opera Delaware is returning this year for a night of Italian arias, and visitors will experience pop-up concerts.
“They’ll be kind of strolling musicians,” Albence said.
One other cultural feature will be Italian youth dancers and students from the Brandywine School of Dance.
The daily admission is $8; children under the age of 16 and adults over 61 get in for free. Children under 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian 21 or over. Tickets are available in advance online or at the venue. Discounted weekly passes are also available, providing one admission per day. Those are $20 in advance and $23 after the festival starts.
Albence said there will be plenty of security at the event.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate in keeping the event safe,” he said.
The festival is cashless, and gift cards for food and other items are available at a discount in advance and at regular price on site. For the midway, guests must purchase Magic Money Cards, also available in advance. All major credit cards will be accepted, and cash will be accepted for purchase of festival gift cards at the venue.
More information is available at www.sapde.org/italianfestival, and advance purchases can be made at www.sapde.org/festivalcashless.
