Practice and purpose of cultural events: Italfest in Mississauga
MISSISSAUGA – For those of a certain age who remember living in their far-off town of origin, Mississauga’s Italfest will have recalled the hustle and bustle of market day: meeting people, expanding the network, learning new things, honing old ones, absorbing the “show”, discovering who you are – what is important in life – the list goes on.
It is a tradition older than Rome itself. The oldest Latin inscription references an announcement of the Fasti Verulani (city of Veroli, predating the founding of Rome). The renowned co-organizer of Italfest, Frank Stendardo, is from the province of Frosinone, one of Lazio’s “provinces”/regional municipalities – “capital” of the smaller cities and towns comprising La Ciociaria, some 91 in number, including Veroli. His co-organizer, Patti Jannetta-Baker, is the daughter of Toronto’s first and most celebrated entrepreneur in the entertainment, convention and restaurant business as the operator and event planner of the Imperial Room in the famed Royal York Hotel, Lou Jannetta.
This year, in addition to the plethora of “stands”, they introduced an awards ceremony to celebrate some noteworthy individuals, the first of them, a Ciociaro, Sam Ciccolini, who donated funds to maintain such an Award in his beloved daughter’s name. That deserves its own article.
Such events merit the pomp and ceremony that guards of honour bring on such occasions. They flow out of the functions of the Consulate General in Toronto to enhance the meaning of such contributions. The Consul General, Luca Zelioli, himself lead the honour guard (Carabinieri, Bersaglieri, Alpini, Aeronautica, Guardie d’onore vaticane and francescane) and presented the award.
Elected representatives from all three levels of government brought messages of celebration to all participants. Noteworthy is that they also represented Portuguese, Hindi, Muslim, Irish, Ukrainian and English communities in the city. Even more significant is the theme of integration that permeated what, at first glance, might have appeared to be group-specific activities.
Italfest 2025 was indeed designed to co-celebrate the culture and society of Sicily represented by Sam Cino of the Sicilian Cultural Society of Hamilton and Joe Baiardo of Sicilia Canta, as well as that of the Ciociaria. For reasons having to do with the potential vagaries of weather, that part of the “fest” took place in great part in the Heritage Center of City Hall, at the North side of the Square. It would take an encyclopedia to do justice to what the Sicilian contingent (from Hamilton no less) brought to the event.
As everyone else, I found the familial attractions the most striking features of the festival, Ciociaro, Sicilian or Italian. A younger woman from British Columbia, Kelowna to be exact, sought me out (I had taught her 51 years ago) to take a picture with her mother, who celebrated her 94th birthday; what an honour for me.
As I left the Square, one of the entertainers was finishing an old Neopolitan love song, “Come Facette Mammeta”. It reminded me of an overriding theme for the event: confused or proud? Go to the source – ask Mom.
Here below is a video of part of the Trinacria Trio’s performance, followed by a photo gallery of the event (photo: Corriere Canadese)
