Celebrating 5 Years! Butler Italian Festival Always a “Primo Salute to the Boot.”

BUTLER, PA, August 22, 2022 (PittsburghNewsWire.com) — Butler County’s largest heritage event marks a major milestone this year, its fifth anniversary as the area’s most wholesome, family tribute to everything green, white, red and Roman. The Butler Italian Festival starts Friday afternoon, August 26 and runs through the weekend.

 

With FREE admission and plenty of FREE parking courtesy of the County—who suspends nearly all parking tolls in garages and on streets for the event [except for Centre City Garage on South McKean]—the massive street fair has become an annual favorite “whether your last name ends in a vowel or not,” says Rocco Lamanna of Pittsburgh-based County Festivals LLC who, with the support and cooperation of Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, launched the celebration in 2017.

 

Thousands of people gather to stroll and savor the elements that make Italian life and lore popular and just plain fun to enjoy—food, music, friendship—gleefully delivered through the harmonious atmosphere of open-air frivolity. “We make over Main Street, turning the City’s central retail corridor into an elongated public square of camaraderie and cuisine reflective of the Italian culture,” says Lamanna.

 

Over 80 distinct vendors will line both sides of downtown between Cunningham and Pearl Streets, with the festival’s primary “piazza” [central square of activity] at the intersection of North and Main. Currently an open lot, the area provides the perfect space for the event’s main stage where music acts—many distinctly Italian, some not, provide a vibrant tempo of top entertainment and showmanship.

 

“It’s a bit difficult to fill every hour and every open space with Italian entities,”explains Lamanna, “there’s simply not enough variety locally to exclusively populate the footprint that way before you start repeating or oversaturating things with the same type of foods, music and other offerings.” Spectators overwhelmingly seem to agree with the mix. The event has earned the silver award in Butler Eagle Newspaper’s “Readers Choice” competition for Best County Festival since its inception.

 

From pizza to pastas, soppressata to sausage, pepperoni and pancetta flavors galore there are plenty of Italian specialties to please the palate. Combined with the more traditional and expected carnival favorites—barbecue and burgers, funnel cakes and fries—to complete the menu, and fans are treated to a bountiful buffet of Mediterranean and modern favorites.

 

Music moves the show though and, this year, the event has signature performances each evening starting with one of the region’s more popular and diverse dance bands, Dr. Zoot, featuring Sal Ventura. It will be the group’s first appearance at the festival and its versatile repertoire and emphasis on “swing” should have spectators eagerly and enjoyably dancing in the streets.

 

Saturday’s headliner, “Let’s Groove Tonight,” billed as the nation’s #1 Earth, Wind and Fire tribute band, has been a festival regular for the past four years. The band has a huge local following and while Italian music steps aside while they’re on stage, a Roman influence stands tall in the group through lead drummer, Sal Richetti, who with Lamanna, also helps organize the event.

 

Sunday welcomes back another festival regular and perhaps the region’s most famous siblings, unmistakably Italian by heritage, Granati Brothers—the legendary rock band known nationally through their own music and tours in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s with star groups Van Halen, Heart, Boston and others.

 

For those longing for and expecting pure Italian melodies, songs and sentimental favorites there’s opera tenor John Lupone, along with Billy Mancini with his renditions of Sinatra and Dean Martin,  and Jerry Demara who croons mostly “Rat Pack” ballads.

 

A separate kids zone with carnival-like rides and games helps keep the little ones occupied, while activities such as the Mangia Meatball eating contest—a beefy battle between Butler Police and Fire Departments—and Star of Italy Pageant add humor and variety to the stage line-up.

 

A full schedule of events—times and details—can be found at butleritalianfestival.com. Key parking and street closure information is also listed on the website.