Willow Glen Resident
Community
Santana Row offers a little bit of Italy at upcoming festival
By Mary Gottschalk
The European ambiance of Santana Row will take a decidedly Italian turn from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 for the 26th Italian Family Festa.
The lure of all things Italian, from food to fashions to entertainment and arts and crafts, brought more than 30,000 people to last year's event.
"We broke all records, and we hope to burst more this year," says Willow Glen resident Marge Valente, president of the sponsoring Italian American Heritage Foundation.
There will be 17 food booths offering pastas, pizzas, sausages, biscotti and the crowd favorite of deep-fried dough called sphingi. Italian-American vintners will showcase their wines.
Live entertainment is continuous throughout the festival, and dozens of arts and crafts vendors will be on hand.
Two of the biggest draws will perform opening night, with Italian-song stylist Pasquale Esposito playing and singing at 6 p.m. followed by the Joe Sharino Band at 7:30. Also performing during the three days are crowd favorites Dick Contino, Bella Sorella and Gilbert Gauthier with his tribute to Frank Sinatra.
For those who want to immerse themselves in activities, there are grape-stomping contests at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, as well as a tarantella dancing contest at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
The aim of the festival is share with the community aspects of Italian-American culture and heritage, says Sal Caruso, past IAHF president.
"It's more than having wonderful food and entertainment; it's about our value system, our love of family, our countries and our concept that friends are part of our extended family," he says.
Caruso worked to move the Festa to Santana Row.
"I saw Santana Row as very much the type of environment we traditionally see in an Italian city. From the standpoint of environment, it's perfect," he says.
Looking back a year, Caruso says the combination of the Festa and Santana Row was "absolutely fantastic. It exceeded our expectations.
The first Festa was held in 1977, in conjunction with the San Jose Bicentennial. It was the first ethnic festival to take place downtown and over the years grew into both the largest and oldest Italian festival on the West Coast.
Over the years, the Festa moved from downtown to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds and in 1996 it was held at Town & Country Village Shopping Center, now the site of Santana Row.
This year's Festa is dedicated to the memories of the late John and Lonnie De Vincenzi of Willow Glen.
"It was their vision to plan and organize our first Festa in 1977, and they continued to chair it for the next 11 years. We're going to honor them and give their daughter, Nancy De Vincenzi Melander, a proclamation," Valente says.
John De Vincenzi, who died in April of this year, was an artist, retired art professor at San José State University, one of the founders of the IAHF and very active in community and cultural affairs. His wife was a tireless volunteer.
Nina Bruno Boyd recalls planning for that first Festa.
"At that time the Italian American Heritage Foundation had just started, and a group gathered at John De Vincenzi's house to plan the first festival downtown," says the Willow Glen resident.
At De Vincenzi's urging, Boyd agreed to coordinate entertainment.
"I was hooked," Boyd says. "It was wonderful. I have great memories of my mother and my husband going to the festival with me and my children and grandchildren. It's been a tradition since the first one."
Another longtime attendee is Helen Marchese Owen, who says, "We've gone forever, with my mother and father and with our kids when they were young. It's changed through the years, but it's a tradition. You see many second- and third-generation families together and it emphasizes the closeness of Italian-Americans."
Owen says she's pleased to see attendance at the Festa has diversified over the last three decades.
"When it started it was pretty much all Italians, and now you see everyone," she says.
The 26th Italian Family Festa at Santana Row near Stevens Creek and Winchester boulevards is free. Hours are noon to 10 p.m. Sept. 29, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 30 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 1. There will be food booths, arts and crafts and entertainment. For more information, visit www.iahfsj.org or call 408.293.7122.
