San Diego Italian Festival Welcomes Over 100,000

Thousands of people (roughly 120,000) enjoyed Little Italy Italian Festival, held Sunday, October 11, the day before Columbus Day. The festival is held annually in homage to Italian Heritage and Culture Month celebrated in October. It is the largest single day Italian-American festival west of the Mississippi River. Centered under the beautiful Little Italy sign, the lively festival truly featured something for everyone.

As any authentic Italian celebration does, San Diego restaurants rose to the occasion with lasagna, meatball sandwiches, fettuccine alfredo, scampi, calamari, gnocchi, ravioli, veal parmigiana, chicken marsala, linguine with clams, pizza, focaccia, cannoli, tiramisu, and a seemingly endless array of tasty Italian cuisine. Filippi's Pizza Grotto, Zucchero, Trattoria Fantastica, Zia's Bistro, Little Spaghetteria, Mona Lisa's, Po Pazzo, and other “ristoranti” provided the fantastic fare as the crowds squeezed themselves into lines at the booths that never seemed to go down until the festival ended. As is the custom, the entertainment is always provided by Italian or Italian-American musicians and singers. This year The Prima's delighted the large crowd. Many east coasters felt a bit homesick when they watched the stickball tournament featuring guest teams from New York.

And don't forget the bocce ball tournament either. Professional artists and amateurs alike, including children, chalked their images to delight the people, including a good liking of the Mona Lisa. The many arts and crafts booths were packed as well, selling from T-shirts ("FBI"-Full Blooded Italian") to graceful Madonna oil paintings complete with rhinestone halos.

This year's Little Italy T-shirts were so popular that they were sold out by early afternoon. There are still red shirts featuring a Sicilian fisherman with his catch. Anyone who did not get a Little Italy T-shirt can still order one by stopping by the Little Italy Association office at 1688 Columbia St., San Diego or by calling (619) 233-3898. That way you'll be ready for the new year's Italian Festival! With all the new condominiums in Little Italy, and constant stream of visitors, it is obvious that Sand Diego's Little Italy isn't so little any more.