Festival Italiano is back. Back after a one-year hiatus. Back in the Ward where it has belonged for the past 22 years.
“The beauty of it is, it’s a community event, and it’s in the Ward,” said Stephen Gazzola, president of the Italian Canadian Club of Guelph, and festival organizer. “This is an urban festival that gives life to the Ward, and it says the Ward is a great place to live, to raise a family, and start a business.”
After a leave-of-absence last year related to renovations to the Italian Canadian Club banquet hall on Ferguson Street, Guelph’s epic Italian cultural festival returns this weekend.
It’s epic because of the crowds of thousands it brings to the close-knit, traditionally working class neighbourhood. It’s epic for the sheer volume of cannoli consumed. And it’s epic for its Old World charm, and particularly for two epic events – the cheese roll and the grease pole competitions. Both of those go on Sunday afternoon, although there is a celebrity cheese roll on Saturday.
The festival’s opening ceremonies start at 6 p.m. Friday evening, which is precisely when the doors open for the event. A crew was getting a start on setting up the amusement rides Tuesday in the club’s large parking lot between Ferguson and Elizabeth street, which serves as the main outdoor venue for the festival.
Gazzola said Festival Italiano is like no other festival in Guelph. It has a decidedly Italian flavour, a free-flowing energy, and a human diversity that makes it so much more than an Italian thing.
“There’s a sense of pride in our culture and in our heritage,” Gazzola said, explaining the punch the event has locally. “It’s a chance for us to stand up in the midst of Guelph, and all its other festivals and say, ‘Hey, here we are.’ It’s a way to share what we have with others, to give back. It’s one weekend where everyone is invited over to our house to let their hair down.”
Both the cheese roll and the grease pole are spectacles that pack the street with spectators. The cheese roll is literally a cheese rolling competition where competitors use a bowler’s action to send a package wheel of cheese wheeling down street. The game started in Guelph with an Italian festival on Alice Street that predated Festival Italiano by many years, Gazzola said. Look for the festival poster by internationally known illustrator Seth for an illustration of the game.
The object is to get from one end of Ferguson to other, the equivalent of two city blocks, in the fewest number of rolls. Some of the competitors have professional calibre skills.
The greased pole competition involves teams of four – there are male and female events – that climb each other while trying to scale a standard telephone pole that is completely slathered with thick grease. Some competitors dress in sliver-proof clothing and often wrap their legs and arms with burlap for grip. In terms of degree of difficulty, it is on the upper end of the scale.
“We took last year off, and renovated the banquet hall,” Gazzola said. “This year we found out that people missed the festival last year. There seems to be a buzz about the festival being back – a buzz about our friends, neighbours, patrons and the community at large coming back together.”
The festival “adds spice” to Guelph cultural life, and is very unique in its character, he added.
“It it just different, and special,” he said. He concurred that the grease pole event is one of the most unusual and special features of the festival.
The pole was installed Monday in front of the ICC office building on Ferguson. The grease will be delivered Sunday morning. Once the pole goes up there is no turning back, Gazzola said.
Among the Italian-infused happenings at the festival will be games of bocce ball, a spaghetti eating competition, and an Italian film festival in the lobby of the banquet hall. There will be a full-slate of musical performers on the schedule.
“We’ve tried to estimate the attendance in the past and it’s difficult,” Gazzola added. “But it is definitely in the many thousands.”
A number of local dignitaries, including Guelph MPP Liz Sandals and Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie will take part in the opening ceremonies Friday evening.
For a schedule of events here.