A tradition that dates back more than 100 years is still very much alive in Omaha’s Little Italy. Omaha’s Santa Lucia Festival was founded back in 1925 by Grazia Bonafede Caniglia, an immigrant from Sicily who walked every morning to say her prayers at St. Philomena Catholic Church, now St. Frances Cabrini.
She wanted to recreate the Santa Lucia Festival to give other Italian immigrants a connection to their former country, and also to their faith. “The Italian immigrants from Carlentini came here to Nebraska, and a lot of them settled here in Omaha, and so they brought the tradition of the Santa Lucia festival, work for Montini to Omaha, and so, because of our ancestors, we have this tradition every year,” said Anna Venditte, president of Santa Lucia's Festival committee.
