South Philly will turn red, white and green on Oct. 4, when the annual St. Nicholas of Tolentine Authentic Italian Festival returns to the 1700 block of S. 9th St.
The free festival, a longtime neighborhood tradition, will run from noon to 8 p.m. and is expected to draw thousands of people to the streets around St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church.
And, as usual, the day starts with a procession.
At noon, statues of Catholic saints will make their way through the neighborhood, accompanied by the Verdi Band playing traditional Italian marches. The procession will wind through the streets before giving way to a full afternoon of Italian food, live music, dancing and family activities.
For South Philly, this is hardly a new tradition.
Italian festivals have been held at St. Nicholas of Tolentine for more than 100 years. The parish was established in 1912 by Italian immigrants who wanted to maintain a connection to their homeland. The modern festival began in 1987 as part of the parish’s 75th anniversary celebration and has continued annually on the first Sunday of October.
Rev. Nick Martorano, pastor of St. Nicholas of Tolentine, said the festival is meant to be bigger than the parish itself.
“We wanted to create an opportunity for our entire community, not just our parishioners, to come together and celebrate one of the many diverse cultures that make our neighborhood so great,” Martorano said.
There will be plenty to celebrate with a fork, too.
Food vendors include The Kitchen Consigliere, Termini Bros Bakery and Del Buono Bakery, with an Italian-heavy menu featuring meatball and porchetta sandwiches, pasta and gravy, arancini, broccoli rabe, eggplant rollatta, escarole and beans, sausage and peppers, Italian seafood and rice, tripe, pizza, cannolis, Italian cakes and other desserts.
Wine, beer and cordials will also be available.
The entertainment lineup runs throughout the afternoon, beginning with Philadelphia vocalist Matthew Maisano at 1 p.m., followed by the Vivaci Dancers at 1:30 p.m. Jenna Esposito, Steve Ritrovato and the City Rhythm Orchestra will perform “That’s Amore: The Great Italian-American Songbook” at 2 p.m.
Accordion favorite Nick Desiderio takes the stage at 3:30 p.m., followed by the Quaker City String Band at 4:30 p.m.
Then comes one of the day’s big surprises.
The New York Tenors — Andy Cooney, Daniel Rodriguez and Christopher Macchio — will perform at 5 p.m.
DJ Bob Kelly follows at 6 p.m., and City Rhythm’s “Sound of Philadelphia Dance Party” will close out the evening at 7 p.m. DJ Spanky Brown will keep things moving throughout the day.
For younger festivalgoers, there will be rides, face painting, games and sand art.
The festival is free and open to the public, with food and drinks available for purchase. For more information, visit the St. Nicholas of Tolentine Italian Festival website. ••
