Bocce, biscotti and everything in between

The aroma of acidic marinara mixed with savory sausage and peppers permeated through the two rows of caterer tents. Greatest hits from the past fifty years encompassed the festivities as attendees milled about laughing, eating and occasionally waving across food stands at friends. 

For one weekend in September, this is what the block between Washington Street and Fayette Street in downtown Syracuse turns into. 

The 28th annual Festa Italiana took place Sept. 18-20 in front of City Hall, featuring 15 specialty vendors, the annual bocce tournament and live music from bands including Soul Injection and Gold Dust Gypsies. Highlights included a Sunday mass and this year’s brand new biscotti contest. 

“[I] just came here to eat,” said John Cerrone, one of the festival’s board members and lifelong attendee. Five years ago he was asked to join the board to help highlight Italian heritage, hosting cooking demonstrations and Italian bingo in the aptly named Heritage Tent. Before then, Cerrone worked his way up by selling pizza and volunteering in the beverage tent. 

The festival kicked off in 1997 by a group of Italian descendants who wanted to start a celebration in Syracuse that emulated the festivals back in Italy. Today, it’s the only festival that is still held in front of City Hall. 

The walls of the Heritage Tent are covered in old photographs of families and newspaper clippings of local Italian-owned businesses, some of which are still operating. Cerrone said one of them, Mento Produce, is in its fifth generation. 

“Family members will come in and dialogue starts and it’s amazing the things that come out of those dialogues,” said Cerrone. 

Similar interactions can be found at the bocce courts as teams shout and gesture in both cheer and frustration. Claire Kelley’s bocce team, which consists of her boyfriend, his cousin and a friend, has played at the festival for three years. Their first year they placed second and last year they came in fourth. Although Kelley is new to the game, her boyfriend, Michael Barbuda, isn’t. She shared that his family has run the bocce tournament for years; another one of his cousins, Teddy Barbuda, constructs the bocce courts himself.  

Apart from the game, Kelley said her favorite part of Festa Italiana is the social aspect, with the desserts as an added bonus. 

Kelley said that she “already went and loaded up [on desserts] this morning at 10 a.m.”  

Another bocce team, clad in their matching “Ciao Bella” shirts, came in seventh this year. The team, known as the Bocce Babes, is made up of four friends — Jen, Amanda, Amy and Gina — who have played together for a handful of years. They agree that the game is a focal point of Festa Italiana because of the community and camaraderie that comes from playing against the same teams every year. 

For these women, the festival serves not only as a celebration of their heritage, but as a remembrance of their loved ones and the atmosphere they grew up with. The festival makes them feel close to the family members they’ve lost, even though they’re no longer here.