Festa Italiana will make its return Saturday after 2-year hiatus

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Festa Italiana is back after a two year hiatus. This year it will be at the Italian Community Center, and it will be a scaled back version of the fest Milwaukeeans have come to love at the Summerfest Grounds. 

With one entertainment stage and a cucina tent, organizers are making sure you can still get a taste of all of the Italian traditions. 

"We have cannoli's, we have pizza, we have good Italian food," said Rose Anne Fritchie, the president of Italian Community Center and Festa Director. "It's a smaller footprint but it's a lot of the cultural things a lot of the typically Italian things."

That means the cannoli eating contest, the kids pizza making and decorating competition and the Italian Idol will all be back. 

Organizers had to scale down the festival because the Italian Community Center took a financial hit during the pandemic, but they were determined to make it happen as a thank you to the community. 

You can still have local Italian staples from nine food vendors. And there will even be some new activities this year, including a Children's Italian Idol and a pasta sauce making competition that festa-goers will be the judge of. 

"The Contestants were told to bring two courts of their sauce and we will have volunteers to put it in little containers for the judges and people to taste," said Marie Lieber, the cucina manager at Festa Italiana. 

It will cost just $5 to enter the fest this year. Gates open at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24 and Sunday, Sept 25.