Sicilian Heritage ushers in return of festivals
The first of Tangipahoa Parish’s traditional festivals to make comeback from the pandemic is happening this weekend – the Independence’s Sicilian Heritage Festival. Usually held the second weekend in March, the Sicilian Festival may be a little warmer than usual, but it is returning with all the favorite traditions – live music, the spaghetti eatin...
Sicilian Fest returns in June, making up for lost festival season in Tangipahoa Parish
For two years now, the Louisiana festival season has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the return of the Independence Sicilian Heritage Festival, happening the first weekend in June, will make up for lost time, said organizer Robin Taylor Abrams. “We know it’s going to be hotter than usual this year but we were dedicated to making sure we...
Pope Francis Names Italian-Born Somascan Priest an Auxiliary Bishop in Texas
Pope Francis on Tuesday named an Italian-born Somascan priest as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The pope appointed Fr. Italo Dell’Oro, C.R.S., on May 18 to the post in the archdiocese that serves more than 1.7 million Catholics in 146 parishes across 10 counties in southeastern Texas. The 67-year-old bishop-elect was b...
Episode 38: A Long Way From Palermo, How The Sicilians Influenced Louisiana
Louisiana, we know, is the creation of many ethnic groups but one that doesn’t always get the credit it is due is the Sicilians. The port of New Orleans was the largest arrival point of migrants from the island off the Italian coast. The group would become very active in agriculture and also influential in food, music, politics and religious celebr...
Spaghetti cookoff set for next weekend
The Sicilian festival will hold its annual Spaghetti Cookoff May 15 starting at 8 a.m. at Festival Square, 312 E Railroad Ave., Independence, LA. A dessert competition has been added this year. People are encouraged to make their favorite Italian or Sicilian dessert and bring it to the pavilion at Festival Square by 10:30 that morning. The entry fe...
Misbeliefs: A Linguistic Look at a Beloved New Orleans Fruit
The residents of New Orleans have a history of creating unusual pronunciations of words. Local street names provide common examples of New Orleanians’ inventive pronunciations, such as Burgundy Street (pronounced bur-GUHN-dee, not BUR-guhn-dee) and a cluster of Uptown streets named for the nine Greek Muses, including Urania, Thalia, Euterpe, Callio...
No Ketchup on Spaghetti
Join us on Tuesday June 1st at 7PM for an insightful conversation with Chef and Italian Food Advocate Ale Gambini . The Milan-born author of "No Ketchup on Spaghetti: The Complete Guide on How to Shop, Eat, and Cook Like an Italian" will share her experience here in the US and discuss her approach on how to shop and eat like an Italian. She will al...
Discovering Pompeii
Fri, May 7, 2021. 1:30 AM – 2:30 AM CEST. Online event. The Italian Cultural & Community Center is excited to present a two-lecture series on Pompeii and its incredible history. Join us to learn about this wonderful ancient city: a unique archeological site where it is possible to travel back in time owing to the unfortunate eruption of Vesuvius in...
Italian Maid Café Presents Music On The Patio In May
Local musicians will be serenading diners when Music on the Patio returns to Italian Maid Café in Cross Creek Ranch, 6-8 p.m. Fridays throughout May. The event kicks off with a special Mother’s Day performance, with Savannah Adkins encouraging kids to get up and sing karaoke Friday, May 7. Other performers include Tay&Mel: Generations on May 14; Ra...
Sardinian experience reflected in new CD released by UNM professor
Last year, Kristina M. Jacobsen, associate professor of Ethnomusicology and Anthropology (Ethnology) at The University of New Mexico, traveled to Italy on a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnomusicology. The grant allowed her to live in Sardinia for a year as a visiting researcher and to do ethnographic fieldwork to writ...
In Dawson, NM, Hundreds of Tombstones of Italians in the Abandoned Cemetery
In the vast high plains of New Mexico lies a ghost town, one among many in the American West. A frontier of little towns that would spring up thanks to unexpected fortunes, and would be born and die in the blink of an eye, then leave these towns to the mercy of time. But this one tells a very particular story. Around 100 years ago, its population r...
Italians Lynched in Tallulah, La., Honored with Historical Marker at Gravesite
The State of Mississippi and City of Vicksburg honored five Italians who were lynched just across the Mississippi River in Tallulah, La., on July 20, 1899. Five Italian men who owned grocery stores in town, were seized by a mob of local residents and publicly hanged. The men honored are Giuseppe Di Fatta, Francesco Di Fatta, Pasquale Di Fatta, Giov...