The festival runs Friday and Saturday night and will feature Italian food, music, and community in Portland’s Little Italy.
PORTLAND, Maine — The St. Peter’s Italian Bazaar and Street Festival kicks off Friday evening in Portland.
It’s the 100th anniversary of the festival, celebrating Italian culture and heritage.
The event is happening in Portland’s old “Little Italy” neighborhood, on Federal Street, by St. Peter’s Catholic Church.
Festivities are happening from 5-10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
There will be live music, activities for kids, and lots of Italian food. According to organizers, there will be more food than ever this year—pizza, pasta, pastries, and more.
Volunteers worked all week to get that food prepared. More than 100 of those volunteers made 13,000 Italian cookies.
People involved said it’s the community that keeps them coming back to volunteer year after year.
“I love the people I work with, we all get along well, and we have a good time doing it,” Nancy Goodwin, who runs the cookie and pastry baking for the festival, explained. “This is 100 years old, and I came to it when I was a child 70-plus years ago. My grandparents lived in the neighborhood, all my aunts and uncles. And everyone was involved of my family was involved in it, and everyone’s family was involved in it.”
The proceeds from the festival go toward preserving St. Peter’s Church, which is nearly 100 years old.
Mike Colello, co-chair of the festival, said that the church was really the center of the Italian neighborhood, where immigrants could be around people who spoke the same language and worship together.
The festival aims to continue the spirit of Little Italy in Portland.
“It’s about the community, about the heritage of the Italian population, immigrants coming here in the early 1900s,” Colello said. “Bringing all of those families that are still around Portland to come back and visit old friends and visit the old neighborhood.”
The festival is free to attend. You can find the full schedule of events here.
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Dining and Cooking