Benvenuto!
The 3rd Annual
Festival Italiano
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Downtown Greensboro, 12:00 Noon until 6:00 P.M.
N. Davie Street and Festival Park
FREE ADMISSION!
3rd Annual Festival Italiano 2011 presented by NC Families United
People LOVE it!
· More than 5,000 people first year.
· In 2010 we had more than 8,000 – it was a great afternoon of food, music and fun!
· 2011 Festival Italiano has more emphasis on entertainment and activities for people to enjoy (Schedule on Information Page of this website).
NC Families United will feature continuous activities for children and adults throughout the afternoon featuring bocce competitions, bowling for kids, drawing contests, and more!
· Gran Fondo Cycling Event (had 145 riders last year) begins earlier in the day (8am) with 15, 30, 60, and 100 mile rides supported by Revolution Cycles NC. Riders will complete their routes and return just as the festival is beginning. Cycling event benefits Horsepower Therapeutic Learning Center for the Disabled.
The festival officially begins at noon and will feature an opening ceremony and “blessing of the bread” that is traditional at festivals in Italy. Greensboro’s Justin Catanoso will serve as MC and he will also be available to discuss his book, My Cousin the Saint.
· Downtown Greensboro Inc. is sponsoring the stage sound system which enables us to offer a more enjoyable afternoon to visitors to downtown.
· The Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and 3dog productions are assisting with t-shirts for the Gran Fondo. This is the first time for t-shirts!!!!!
· Foreign Cars Italia is a HUGE favorite with attendees. They are a sponsor this year and will bring LOTS of cars for everyone to enjoy…there is even talk of a few classic cars that will be on display!
· Premedia Group does signage for the festival and are providing an Italian Flag banner as the stage backdrop.
In 2010 Italy hosted the World Baton Team Championships – in 2011 Greensboro will host World Champion and former University of Tennessee Feature Twirler, Courtney Cormier. Courtney will perform and teach during the afternoon!
NC Families United is providing activities for children and adults throughout the afternoon. Proceeds earned from this will go to supporting the "Behind the SEEN art Project", and YOUTH MOVE Youth Voice!! Both stigma reducing projects lend voices to families and youth to help give those faced with emotional and behavioral challenges a voice.
NC Families United is a family support and advocacy organization. It's mission is to:
Professional Italian Folk Company to Perform at Festival Italiano!
The Dance Cure performs in Greensboro on October 9, 2011
GREENSBORO — September 15, 2011 — Festival Italiano announced today that The Dance Cure, the only professional Italian Folk Dance Company in the United States will highlight the afternoon entertainment for the Italian Festival in downtown Greensboro NC on Sunday, October 9, 2011.
Their choreography comes from over a decade of research conducted in Italy and many of our dances are dances originally used to "cure" folks from the hardships of life in the historically impoverished southern Italian landscape. “My parents are from southern Italy so I am 2nd generation Italian American and a dance professor at Elon University. Encourage folks to come to show but bring their dancing spirit to learn the Tarantella Napolitano!” says company founder Natalie Marrone.
Performance times are 1:00 pm and 3:30pm on stage at Festival Park at the Cultural Arts Center at 200 North Davie Street in downtown Greensboro.
Established in 1998, Natalie Marrone and The Dance Cure maintains a unique artistic voice in the Triangle area. The company thrives on performing and teaching an accessible yet diverse body of dances that explore the many rites of passage woven through the fabric of human experience. Marrone's Italian ethnicity serves as the point of the departure for most of the company's choreographic creations which fuse the athleticism of contemporary dance with folk dances, myths and rituals of her southern Italian background. The all female company can be seen throughout the state of North Carolina inspiring a broad participation in dance which nurtures individual expression, celebrates diversity, and passionately pursues community unity.
www.thedancecure.com
Local business sponsorships are bringing this wonderful entertainment to Greensboro. Premedia Group, Foreign Cars Italia, Luigi’s Cucina Italiana & Pizzeria, Elizabeth’s Pizza, Natty Greene’s Brewing Company, Stonefield Cellars, 3dog productions. DGI (Downtown Greensboro Inc.) is the sound stage sponsor for all afternoon entertainment.
Additional entertainment for the afternoon includes Mebansville, This year’s Festival Italiano Greensboro Meb-set will include Chuck Hodson on mandolin; Fernando Suárez on piano accordion; Jane Davis on violin; Jody McCall on electric bass; Larry Duckworth on drums; Larry Vellani on classical and folk guitars; Peggy Boswell on pennywhistle and hand percussion.; and Sherry Lea on djembe, tambourine and harmonica. The Mebanaires will be performing music from throughout the Italian peninsula and diaspora—primarily in Italic languages, as well as some in English, French and Spanish!
Among the band’s many past—and continuing—performance venues in the Triad and Triangle are Hillsborough’s Ristorante Panciuto’s, Raleigh’s The Irregardless Café, the University of North Carolina’s campuses in Greensboro and Chapel Hill, The Carrboro Music Festival, Raffaldini Winery and Vineyards, The Mebane Dogwood Festival, Iron Gate Winery and Vineyards, Saxapahaw’s The Eddy Pub, Elon’s The West End Station, the Mebane Espress Bar Caffé e Gelato Italiano, Chapel Hill’s Ristorante Piola, Carrboro and Hillsborough’s Weaver Street Markets, Burlington’s The Cutting Board, The Mebane Arts and Community Center, The Carrboro Century Center, Elon University, Alamance Community College, Mebane’s Clay Street Tavern, Burlington’s Company Shops Market, The Grove Winery and Vineyard, Raleigh’s Nofo at the Pig, Burlington City Park, The International Festival of Raleigh, Hillsborough’s The Gulf Rim Café, Mebane’s Dick and Jane’s Tapas and Martini Bar, Johnston Community College, Elon’s Acorn Inn and art galleries in Burlington, Mebane, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Raleigh.
www.ReverbNation.com/Mebanesville
THERE WILL ALSO BE A SURPRISE PERFORMANCE THAT WILL BE A WONDERFUL ADDITION TO THE DAY! HINTS:.....UNCG, Opera, David Holley!!!! That's all I can say.