 | By Bobby Tanzilo   Managing Editor E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Bobby Tanzilo |
| Published July 22, 2007 at 4:08 p.m. |
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After years of watching Irish Fest top all the other ethnic fests with its cultural area, Festa Italiana has continually grown its version and this year, on the south end of the grounds, there were artists, films, authors, historical exhibits, opera exhibits, a marketplace, regional cultural exhibit and more.
Most of the features are not new, but they've all been consolidated in one spot for the first time and the results are great. At the start of the Festa day on Sunday all of the tents were already buzzing, even though the popular procession was under way at the same time.
An author friend told me he sold more than 30 books during the first three days and I hear other cultural concessions were doing equally well. An author panel I took part in with Larry Baldassaro and Paul Salsini drew a small but interested group of fest-goers, who asked good questions. In the past, this sort of event was rare.
The musical groups visiting from Calabria -- this year's featured region -- were well received in the Pompeii tent stage and hopefully that will make Festa organizers take note and put the Italian artists on the major stages where they belong. Certainly there's a high-profile place for modern Italy at a major Italian festival like Milwaukee's
Meanwhile, it's good to see that uniting all of the cultural attractions has proved successful and popular. After all, this aspect is what makes each of the ethnic festivals unique and interesting.
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Recent Talkbacks ...
Posted by Valorie Schleicher on Sept. 3, 2007 at 11:51 a.m. (report)
Thanks for being a part of Festa Italian Fine Artist talk in the new Fine Art Tent at Festa. Many visitors were a buzz about having Italian writers speak and asked for more next year. Some were educated that writing is a "Fine Art". Keep the education going. Sometimes with the internet it's nice to see that there is a real person attached to the writings we read on the net, books and in the paper. So thank you for being a part of this event and we look forward to seeing many more in the years to come. Valorie Schleicher Artist/Fine Art organizer/Arts advocate
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Posted by mowokyboy on July 23, 2007 at 11:23 a.m. (report)
Festa has finaly emerged from the cultural backwaters. I know there is a certain writer who has played a key role in the development of the area, and he and the others are to be complimented. I can only hope that the leadership of the festival don't take a benighted look at things again and decide it doesn't make money, so it can't be worth it. At Irish Fest, we have worked to make the Cultural area the pride of the festival. It takes work, and it also has had the support of the festival leaders to develop it to make the Milwaukee festival unique in its approach to the arts, culture and sports, even amongst other Irish festivals. It will never be a profit center, but then again, should the arts and culture be profit centers? Once you lose the reason for a life, all the money in the world will not revive it. so, to Dominic Frinzi, Joe Dentice, the Sambitos, and all the others, congratulations. You did a great job. And to Bobby, good show for highlighting it so well, and to giving your invaluable input to all involved.
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