Members of Omaha's Little Italy community cheered and cried Sunday as family and friends celebrated the final day of the Santa Lucia Italian Festival at Lewis & Clark Landing. The four-day festival concluded with members of the Italian-American community walking with an ornate and decorated statue of Santa Lucia through the streets of downtown Omaha.

The festival was originally brought to Omaha in 1925 by the Italian immigrant Grazia Bonafede Caniglia. As more and more Italians built new lives in Omaha, she made it her mission to recreate the Santa Lucia Festival that is celebrated in Sicily. She hoped to give immigrants a strong connection with their former country and deepen their faith in the new land.

Read more

Source: http://www.omaha.com/