St. Paul’s Italian Festival is bringing food, family, and Italian American heritage together this weekend—all while raising money to help fight food insecurity in the Erie community.
The annual festival continued Saturday, bringing people together for traditional Italian food, live entertainment, and a shared sense of community.
For Tim NeCastro, president of the Mazzini Charitable Foundation and chairman of St. Paul’s Italian Festival, food is one of the best ways to celebrate Italian culture.
“What is the Italian culture all about? It’s really about caring and giving and doing for each other,” NeCastro said. “We’re a kind of serving culture in a lot of ways, and one of the ways we love serving is through food.”
And there was no shortage of favorites to choose from.
NeCastro said eggplant parmesan is his top pick, while Mark McCloskey, treasurer of the Pulaski Club, said he enjoys the meatballs—and the camaraderie that comes with the festival.
“I like the meatballs and the camaraderie,” McCloskey said. “It’s nice to see neighborhoods come together in these trying times that we live in.”
But the festival is about more than good food.
All proceeds benefit the St. Paul Neighborhood Center, which primarily focuses on addressing food insecurity in the community.
The Mazzini Charitable Foundation is working to repurpose the former St. Paul school building into a community resource that can help address food insecurity in Erie’s 16502 ZIP code while connecting residents with social services.
NeCastro said rising prices have made it more challenging to keep the festival affordable this year, but organizers are committed to providing quality food and an experience that brings people together.
“We’ve always tried to make it affordable, and it’s hard to make it affordable, so we’ve had to raise prices on things,” NeCastro said. “People don’t seem to be complaining, and I think because the quality is there, and our heart is put into everything that we make.”
The festival wraps up Sunday with its traditional spaghetti dinner.
The final day begins at noon and runs until 5 p.m., with proceeds continuing to benefit the St. Paul Neighborhood Center and its efforts to combat food insecurity in the community.
Dining and Cooking