Schenectady will celebrate its Italian heritage Saturday, Sept. 12, from noon until 9 p.m. at the fourth annual Little Italy Streetfest on North Jay Street.

Local restaurants will move out onto the street selling Italian delicacies including calamari in sauce, eggplant, zeppole, panini, chicken parmesan, and sausage and peppers.

“It’s just really like being in Italy for an Italian festival,” said Maria Papa, owner of Perreca’s Bakery in Schenectady. “You feel Italian. You start dancing. You can’t help yourself.”

Papa will be selling goods on North Jay Street from her bakery including homemade pasta fagioli, homemade beans and greens, “which people love,” and tomato pie, which is a grated cheese pizza, as well as a variety of paninis.

“The festival came about because the businesses on the street wanted to give Schenectady residents and our surrounding neighbors a chance to really experience the Italian culture,” said Papa.

Papa and festival organizers try to make it as authentic and close to a street festival that takes place in Italy as possible.

“If you’re Irish and your whole family is Irish, you may not know what it’s like to be in Italy for an Italian festival,” said Papa.

Thanks to the annual Little Italy Streefest, people don’t have to travel far.

“It’s very Old World. Everyone here is very friendly, and it’s like a cute neighborhood shop,” said Papa of her bakery.

The Little Italy Streetfest will open with the singing of the American and Italian National Anthems by Johnny Ferrari, who will entertain on the accordion throughout the event.  Other music includes Grand Central Station at noon, Tommy Verrigni with Italian vocals at 3 p.m., and Happy Daze at 6 p.m.  

North Jay Street’s newest business, Kristin’s Hair Salon, will be selling Italian gift items such as fine silk scarves and jewelry outside the shop.

The Cultural Tent, sponsored by the funeral home Rossi and Ditoro, is new this year with representative Italian organizations including the Sons of Italy, American Italian Heritage Museum and Cultural Center, and the Lazio Mondo Society. Artist Joseph Anastasio, a graduate of the Florence Academy of Art, will display his hand-painted tiles in the Cultural Tent. 

Children’s activities include short Italian-language lessons and “Dance the Tarantella,” an instruction and participation in the dance with an explanation of its history.  The movie “Uncle Nino” will be shown in Italian with English subtitles, followed by a short discussion group for adults.  Also available is a list of suggested Italian movies that depict the Italian culture both in the United States and in Italy.

ItalyMondo will be available for those who are seeking information on their Italian genealogy.  Lazio Mondo Society will have prints available of the Lazio region of Italy.  

The Little Italy Streetfest is sponsored in part by the businesses of North Jay Street, the City of Schenectady Heritage Area, Schenectady County, Price Chopper, Fuccillo Auto Group and DeVoe Associates Marketing & Public Relations.

“We still have a lot of Italian businesses and families, so the local businesses all got together, and we picked a date to coincide with Experience and Creative Design open house,” said Maureen Gebert, chair of the Annual Little Italy Streetfest, talking about the first Streetfest that was held four years ago.

She said she assumed people would at least have to park near the Little Italy section of Schenectady to go to the open house, which would hopefully create some foot traffic. Low and behold, thousands of people from near and far showed up to the first festival and have been coming each year since.   

“It was unbelievable. People were scrambling, and those folks down there just did a phenomenal job,” said Gebert of the shop owners who kept making more food to keep up with the crowd.

“Italians don’t run out of food,” said Gebert.

Gebert describes the festival as a reunion for those who come each year.

“People come from all over. For people who have moved to Florida, this is their reason to come back because they know they’re going to run into people on the street, and they don’t have to make a big deal of getting together,” said Gebert. “They can just chitchat.”

According to Gebert, the Little Italy section of Schenectady has seen some major improvements since the implementation of the festival just four years ago.

“Not to pat us on the back, but I think we do deserve it. … This is a wonderful economic development tool. I wish we could package it,” said Gebert of the festival.

She said that many buildings that once stood abandoned are now occupied with shops, restaurants and other businesses.

The festival is also a way to preserve the Schenectady Italian tradition.

“It’s part of Schenectady’s history, and it has to do with GE and ALCO,” said Gebert.

In the mid-1800s at the start of the Industrial Revolution, both companies needed workers.

“Both companies – particularly GE – had a broader need of certain skills, but they all recruited from the European countries because of their various skills,” said Gebert.

Schenectady’s Little Italy on North Jay Street is located off the north side of Union Street between the 400 and 500 blocks.  It is two blocks west of Erie Boulevard.  Parking is in nearby lots and streets.  Visitors may bring their lawn chairs.You can contact news@spotlightnews.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below. Comments powered by Disqus

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