‘Festa di Natale’ – A Christmas party for children at IIC Los Angeles

It’s not Christams without a party! Instead of the classic celebration of the past years, this time the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles hosted a special event dedicated to children and their families. A Saturday “Italian style”, where children had the chance to celebrate the Christmas season with educational ideas, that kept them entertained and renewed family traditions at the same time.

The party started with Italian cartoons screened at the theatre of the Institute. Pimpa, Lupo Alberto, Le Winx and La Linea are animated characters created all by the fantasy of Italian cartoonists such as Francesco Tullio Altan, Guido Silvestri, Osvaldo Cavandoli and Iginio Straffi.
Then, a real Italian party is always accompanied by food, usually delicious. And so it was.

With Piccolo Chef, children learnt how to decorate cookies, or ‘biscotti’, before obviously, eating them. The good and sweet smell probably also roused parents’ good memories of their own childhood at Christmas time.
The patio of the Institute became a space for reading books, especially Italian books, in a sort of old time atmosphere. But there was more.

Thanks to Fondazione Italia, children also practiced arts and crafts; a way not only to create their own Christmas decorations, but to make them concretely experience the beautiful side of the season, away from the more consumerist environment. Homemade Christmas decorations, moreover, apparently help keep childhood memories alive. Special guest of the day: Babbo Natale, the Italian Santa Claus.
Besides the fun part, this ‘Festa di Natale’ was a good occasion to experience some of the best Italian traditions. Christmas is celebrated all over the world, but every Country does it differently. In Italy, this season comes with a heritage of local traditions that deserve to be kept alive.

Alessandra Mastroianni
contributor