Italian Fest

One of the perks to living in Fletcher Place is the annual Italian Fest put on by Holy Rosary. Eric might argue that we've missed a lot of them, as it usually falls on our anniversary weekend, but I contest that - we can usually make at least one night. The only exception was our wedding five years ago, and my friend, Chris', wedding last year. And then there was the year that is was cancelled due to 'church politics' - totally not my fault or any travel planning faux pas. Anyway...

This year we were excited to see some layout improvements from our last time (two years ago, for anyone keeping track). Last time, we saw they started to change the layout a bit, but it still had some areas that got bottlenecked, and the stage location was part of that. This year, they finally moved the stage to the actual park area, where there was a lot more green space. This allowed for the food area to expand/spread out, and also made it much quieter - you could eat in one of the table areas and hear yourself talk, while the other area closer to the stage allowed you to still enjoy the show while you ate. Granted, you could still hear the music wherever you were. This was the biggest change, and it was a vast improvement. I guess it might have been like that last year, but it was new to us.

Then there was the cannolis. They used to pass them out, for a few bucks each, and they quite obviously were a massed produced frozen item they bought for the festival. They were still good (they sold tons!), but not 'fresh' like you might find in an authentic Italian restaurant. But this year... they were fresh! At least fresh-er. I think the shell might have been pre-bought, but I swear, the filling was fresh. We were guessing that they came out of the new gelato shop that opened - we haven't been in there yet, but the family that opened it is quite tied-in with the church. They were SO good!

We didn't stay long this year, but it got us excited about next year (no - we can't go tonight). It is a fun event to go to, as it just so low key, since it's one of the few cultural festivals still actually in a neighborhood (rather than one of the large parks downtown). Regardless, it's always a fun time.