“Abbondanza” is a good word to describe the upcoming weekend in San Jose’s Little Italy.
After hosting a block party a couple of weeks ago, this historic district will hold a grand opening for the Little Italy San Jose Museum, located in a beautifully restored house next door to the Poor House Bistro (and already home to the Italian Cellar Bar). The event will take place on Friday, October 4th with a dinner and concert by Vanessa Racci and Cory Pesatauro. Tickets are available for that event at www.littleitalysj.com/events.
It leads up to the seventh annual Little Italy Festival on Sunday, October 6, with plenty of food – hot dogs with polenta, arancini, lasagna, risotto, pizza, cannoli, sphingi, tiramisu and more – live music and street performers from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eataly, the high-end Italian food emporium at the Valley Fair, will have a booth at the festival (and will also contribute appetizers to the museum dinner).
The festival entrance is free.
After an opening ceremony with national anthems, the concerts begin. Headliner Pasquale Esposito, the popular tenor from Naples who now lives in San Jose, will take the stage at 3:15 p.m., and the Anthony Nino Lane Band will close out the festivities.
Car lovers will want to check it out, too, as more than 150 Italian cars and motorcycles will be on display, making this one of the largest Italian car shows in the United States. This includes “supercars” such as Lamborghinis and Ferraris, as well as five examples of the extremely rare Ferrari Enzo, of which only 126 were ever imported to the United States
Little Italy San Jose Executive Director Joshua DeVincenzi Melander says he’s encouraged to see more groups, like the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy and Beautify San Jose, playing a role in Little Italy’s development.
“It’s really coming together now,” he said. “We’re starting to get others to help.”
Details: Little Italy San Jose is located at Julian and North Almaden. Parking for both the block party and the festival will be available for $6 at the SAP Center. Find the event schedule at www.littleitalysj.com/little-italy-san-jose-festival.
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