COLUMBIA — For years, the Italian Festival was a gathering place for people across Columbia — Italian or not — to spend time together. Attendees ate fresh pasta, played bocce ball and stomped grapes as a way to celebrate Italian culture every year since 2009.
Tripp Roche, a fifth-generation member of the family that runs the iconic Italian restaurant Villa Tronco in Columbia, remembers it fondly. He helped run the restaurant’s booth (where it felt like there were always people in line), dancing the Tarantella or posing with a gondola prop. But Roche also remembers when the festival abruptly came to a halt after historic flooding canceled the 2015 event. It hasn’t been held since.
That’s set to change next year.
Roche was only nine when the festival last occurred, but he and his brother Donovan are determined to bring it back. The co-organizers announced the Italian Festival will return to Columbia in 2026 with an event at Finlay Park.
Roche said the festival was consistently on his mind over the years. Roche’s family hails from Sicily, and he greatly values his Italian heritage and remembers his grandmother and Villa Tronco, as a whole, being heavily involved in the festival over the years.
While there is a significant Italian community in Columbia, Roche said people have had limited ways to celebrate this heritage since the festival ended. He sees reviving the event as a solution, one that has already gotten positive feedback from Italians and non-Italians alike.
“When we first announced it, and there was a lot of Italians that had reached out or commented stuff and said, ‘Oh my goodness, this is finally something I’ve been looking for …’ “ Roche said. “That’s the type of stuff I’d like to hear, because that means we’re making a positive change for the better of the Italian community here in Columbia.”
The logo for the 2026 Italian Festival.
Provided/Tripp Roche
Blake Casanova, a balloon artist and the owner of Looney Ballooney, said he first joined the festival about 12 years ago and continued attending each year until it stopped in 2015. He describes loving the festival’s atmosphere and feeling grateful to have long lines of people willing to wait for his work.
“What I remember seeing the most is just a lot of happiness,” Casanova said.
Casanova said he sees the festival as influential because of its potential to create a positive cultural and business impact. While not Italian himself, Casanova said he had a close Italian friend and sees the festival as a great way to celebrate and share the culture.
As for the economic side, Casanova said it’s just “fantastic business.”
“I’ve always historically done well there. I’ve heard other vendors historically say that they do well there. So it’s good for the culture. It’s good for the local economy. The kids always have a blast,” Casanova said.
He sees the festival as a homecoming.
“I would equate it to an old friend that you grew up with coming back into town,” Casanova said. “So why wouldn’t you want to come and visit your friend for a day?”
What to expect
Roche said the festival is still very much in the planning phase, but he is working with other local organizers to get things together. They are looking at working with Italian restaurants to serve food, but also want to “go bigger than just food.”
“We want it to be about art and we want it to be about fashion. So we want to reach out to some people in those sectors and see if we can partner up with certain organizations. Because Italian culture, although it might seem like it sometimes, it’s not all about food,” Roche said. “So there’s a lot of unique things we can do.”
Roche is asking those interested in getting involved to join the new Facebook page dedicated to the festival and to reach out to organizer Jeremy Black Bryant by email at jbryant@barmacyadvisement.com.
While daunting, Roche said restarting the festival is ultimately exciting. His hope is that the 2026 festival is just the start.
“We want this to be the kickstart to an event every single year and have it grow each year and get bigger and bigger and bigger,” Roche said.
Dining and Cooking