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Enjoy the arts, food, and spirit of Italy September 23-24 at Seattle Center
SEATTLE – Seattle Center Festál continues with The Italian Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 24, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall and Fisher Pavilion. The festival is family-oriented, free, and open to the public. The Italian Festival celebrates the cultural roots of Italians and Italian-Americans in the Pacific Northwest by promoting arts and culture that are uniquely Italian.
This year’s Italian Festival offers a variety of activities over the course of the weekend. Visitors can experience three stages of free music and performing arts, including Headliner Anthony “Nino” Lane Band, and hometown expat favorites, The Space Noodles, try a variety of delicious Italian foods, or head to one of the three wine and beer gardens. With an Italian classical vehicle show, a dog show, a photo exhibit, and traditional children’s activities, The Italian Festival has something for everyone.
“Our vision of One Seattle is a city that comes together to celebrate its various cultural communities and their traditions,” said Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. “Italian Fest is a chance for our city to honor the unique cultural roots of Italian Americans in the Pacific Northwest through lively music, delicious food and wine, and so much more.”
Back by popular demand are the Bocce Ball tournament, pizza toss, and the annual Grape Stomp, with the latter taking place on the Fisher Pavilion Rooftop both days between 11:40 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. with emcee “famous dude from Ballard,” Doc Bailey. Partake in free guided tours of Marion Oliver McCaw Hall: a festival first, offered in partnership with Seattle Opera on Saturday from 1-4 p.m. And witness performances from Seattle Mandolin Orchestra, Tony La Stella, The Rob Porcaro, 3-time World Champion Accordionist, Cory Pesaturo and more.
“I am excited to welcome The Italian Festival to Seattle Center, a celebration that beautifully bridges cultures through the universal language of food, music, and the arts,” said Marshall Foster, Interim Director of Seattle Center. “The Italian Festival is a reminder of the rich diversity of cultures that call Seattle home. We are delighted to host The Italian Festival as part of our Festál series.”
For a full schedule of festival activities, visit the Seattle Center website.
About Festa Italiana Seattle
Festa Italiana is an all-volunteer community organization that produces an annual series of events the last week of September, culminating in a free Italian Festival. Since 1988, the festival has celebrated the cultural roots of Italians and Italian-Americans in the Pacific Northwest by promoting the arts, the food, and the culture that are uniquely Italian.
More information on the festival is available at seattlecenter.com and festaseattle.com.
About Seattle Center Festál
Seattle Center Festál cultivates a deeper understanding of the cultures and ethnic diversity that contribute to the rich vibrancy of the Pacific Northwest. This unique series links together 24 free festivals presented on weekends from January to November, each with its own cultural focus, identity, and range of engaging activities. Seattle Center Festál is Where the World Gathers to celebrate the people, the places, the stories, and the traditions of the city’s communities. Seattle Center Festál is produced in partnership with 24 different community groups and supported by City of Seattle, Seattle Center Foundation, 4Culture, and KUOW. Festál is also part of the ArtsFund Cultural Partners Network.
About Seattle Center
Connect to the extraordinary at Seattle Center, an active civic, arts, and family gathering place in the core of our city and region. Seattle Center’s 74-acre campus, centered around the International Fountain, is part of the Uptown Arts & Cultural District and home to Climate Pledge Arena; more than 30 cultural, educational, sports, and entertainment organizations; and a broad range of public and community programs. In everything it does, Seattle Center’s mission is to create exceptional events, experiences, and environments which delight and inspire the human spirit to build stronger communities.
Seattle Center has expanded its role to provide maintenance and public safety services for Seattle’s new Waterfront Park, a series of new public spaces on Seattle’s downtown waterfront between Pioneer Square and the Seattle Aquarium. Seattle Center supports managing these new waterfront public spaces in partnership with the non-profit Friends of Waterfront Seattle, which offers the community a range of recreational and cultural programming.
Thanks to the support of Official Seattle Center Partners – Alaska Airlines, The Climate Pledge, Coors Light, Pepsi, Premera Blue Cross, Symetra, T-Mobile, and WaFd Bank – Seattle Center is the #1 arts and entertainment destination in the Pacific Northwest with 12 million annual visitors, generating $1.864 billion in business activity and more than $631 million in labor income annually. www.seattlecenter.com
