The Società Caruso Italian Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary this weekend with four days jam-packed with fun – and especially food.
The 50th anniversary event takes place from July 7 to July 10 at the Caruso Club and the festival all starts with a live pro-wrestling match.
“So on Thursday night, we're going to have a wrestling match. It's put on by Rock Solid Wrestling,” Angela Corsi-Raso told Sudbury.com in an interview.
Corsi-Raso is the entertainment chair with the board of directors for the Caruso Club. She’s been with the club almost all her life, she said, but it’s her first year as a member with the board of directors this year.
While the festivities start on Thursday, the opening ceremony will be held on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. “The mayor and different local dignitaries, [including] the Italian Vice Consulate, they will all be here for the opening ceremonies.”
After the ceremony, people can head to the food fair that will showcase foods from different regions of Italy. Each day from July 8-10, foods from different regions of Italy, representing the various regions Italian-Sudburians emigrated from, will be featured from 5-7 p.m. The full schedule is on the club’s Facebook page.
Besides the food, each day is packed with a variety of entertainment. On Friday, for instance, you can check out the Festival of Stars Variety Show, the Carmen Dior drag show (Carmen Dior, a drag performer born and raised in Sudbury, but who currently lives in Vancouver) and dance the night away with the CIA Throwback Dance featuring tunes from the 1970s and 1980s.
Kids aren’t left out of the fun either. The kid zone promises fun throughout the weekend.
You can even take a class to learn how to make pasta with Italian nonna Santina Sansalone on Sunday.
The full schedule can be found here for the weekend.
Corsi-Raso invites one and all to join the festivities and celebrate Italian culture in Sudbury.
“It's just amazing,” she said. “(The Società Caruso Club) was kind of like a mystery for people that weren't Italian and then once a year, the festival happens and everybody comes out and they get to experience what we live.
“I want them (people who attend the event) to get a glimpse of our culture and say, ‘Wow, that was great.’ I want them to come with their families and their friends and say, ‘You know, that was a really good time.’ The Italians show great hospitality … And that's what I'm hoping I want them to love Italian food, love Italian culture, love Italian music, and want to be here year after year.”
Eden Suh is a new media reporter at Sudbury.com.
