A Time-Honored JC Tradition: La Festa Italiana!
Ah, August in Jersey City. Oppressive heat aside, it’s the most wonderful time of the year – for lovers of zeppole, rice balls, and wine with peaches, that is.
On Wednesday – Sunday, August 15-19, from 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm nightly, Downtown’s Holy Rosary Church will be holding their Annual La Festa Italania, a five-day street party and time-honored JC tradition that began way back in 1902.
As in years past, La Festa will be a family-friendly party with games, rides, bouncy castles, hourly and Super 50/50 raffles, a DJ, live music and dancing (more like swaying – the party gets packed) and classic Italian-American street fair treats. “I’ve lived in Jersey City over 18 years, and I have come to every Festival in that time”, says McGinley Square resident Joanna Garnett Raeppold. “My kids come for the bouncy castle and the rides. I come for the rice balls and peaches and wine, which are not to be missed if you have never tried them.” Please note, White Star Bar also sets up shop with a full bar, if the sound of fruit-infused wine doesn’t entice you.
Last year’s Feast included some new vendors who reflected the changing nature of the modern downtown JC landscape. Next to the Italian sub and pizza stations were tables with organic soap and bee byproducts for sale. Crews of young hipsters with artfully structured facial hair easily mingled among the elderly ex-parishioners who return to JC in scores from retirement homes across the Country for the Feast. “Coming to the Festival almost feels like stepping back in time”, says Hamilton Park resident Vassily Kotsonouris, a Holy Rosary parishioner who has volunteered at the Feast for the past 5 years, selling 50/50 raffle tickets. “It’s the old JC you hear about, very ethnic and close-knit. At the same time, everyone is truly welcomed and enjoys the party, the food and the drink.”
La Festa Italiana will be held on 344 Sixth Street.
www.LaFestaItalianaJC.com