Sons of Italy Releases
2006 Festival Directory

Washington, DC-- April 21, 2006 A free directory of over 400 annual Italian American festivals in the United States is now available through the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the largest and oldest national organization for men and women of Italian heritage in the United States.

The Sons of Italy 2006 Italian Festival Directory lists 406 festivals in 32 states and the District of Columbia that are held between February and December annually. The directory supplies each festival’s name, month it is held, city, state and contact information. It is 40 pages long and is based on information about festivals held by Sons of Italy chapters as well as on the research of Paul Porcelli, an expert on Italian American festivals.

The five states with the most festivals are: New York (81), New Jersey (62), Pennsylvania (56), Illinois (35) and Massachusetts (32). Other states with significant numbers of festivals include California (26), Ohio (21), Connecticut (21) and Rhode Island (13).

Italian festivals are held coast to coast, including Maine, Alabama, Wisconsin, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada, Washington State and Texas. [See state-by-state tally below.]

According to Porcelli, the oldest festival is believed to be the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Hammonton, N.J., which this year celebrates its 130th anniversary in July. The biggest festival is the Feast of San Gennaro held every September in New York City, which attracts about one million people. Other large festivals are in Milwaukee (“Festa Italiana” in July) and Clarksburg, W.V. (the Italian Heritage Festival in August).

Some festivals include such traditional events as the Flight of the Angels (the Feast of the Madonna del Soccorso di Sciacca in Boston, in August; the Feast of Our Lady of Laurentana in Berwyn, Ill., in September), the Greased Pole Contest (the Feast of St. Peter in Gloucester, Mass., in June; the Feast of Saint Rocco in Malden, Mass., in August), and the Dance of the Lily, in which about 100 men carry a five-ton platform through the streets for hours (in Brooklyn, East Harlem and Massapequa, N.Y., in June and July).

The Sons of Italy directory is free. To download a copy of the report Click Here. For a printed copy, send a large (9” x 12”), self-addressed envelope with $2.07 in stamps on it to:

Sons of Italy Festival Directory
219 E Street NE
Washington, DC 20002

Sorry. No telephone or fax orders.

To add your festival to next year’s directory, please contact OSIA headquarters in Washington by mail at the above address or by fax (202/547-1492) or e- mail: kcafiero@osia.org. No telephone calls, please.

Send the name of the festival, month held, city, state and a contact person or organization with a telephone number and/or email address. Deadline for submissions: January 31, 2007.

2006 ITALIAN FESTIVAL DIRECTORY
Compiled by the Order Sons of Italy in America,
Washington, DC

STATE BY STATE TALLY

New York 81
New Jersey 62
Pennsylvania 56
Illinois 35
Massachusetts 32
California 26
Connecticut 21
Ohio 21
Rhode Island 13
Delaware 5
Florida 5
Texas 5
Wisconsin 4
Colorado 4
Kentucky 4
Maryland 4
Washington State 3
Alabama 3
Virginia 3
West Virginia 3
Louisiana 2
Nebraska 2
Oregon 2
District of Columbia 1
Idaho 1
Iowa 1
Indiana 1
Maine 1
Missouri 1
Nevada 1
South Carolina 1
Michigan 1
Utah 1
TOTAL: 406

About the Order Sons of Italy in America

OSIA has more than 600,000 members and supporters and a network of more than 700 chapters coast to coast. OSIA works at the community, national and international levels to promote the heritage and culture of an estimated 26 million Italian Americans, the nation's fifth largest ethnic group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. See www.osia.org.