I think the first time I heard about the Italian Festival I was living on the West Coast.  Given our new East Coast life, the hubby and I figured we would work up a big appetite doing yard work and then head to DE to chow down.    Basically, the festival is a like a week long big block party around a church.  The entire event is a fundraiser for St. Anthony of Padua’s Catholic Church.  There is food, drinks, carnival rides, casino style games and live music.

We got there just before the crowds on the opening day of the event, so we were able to walk around and get a lay of the land before the crowds arrived.   On the food front, we started off with a refreshing Leinenkugel Summer Shandy and a slice of pizza while taking everything in…later moving on to some chicken parm sandwiches before topping everything off with some homemade gelato.   On the activity side, we saw a string band as well as an orchestra accompanied by a Choral group in the actual church. 

I think they have been doing the festival for about 30 years now, so they really have it down to a science on how to turn the church grounds into a festival.  The surrounding neighborhood was also decorated with Italian flags and banners, so while I am sure parking is a bit of challenge for the church’s residential neighbors during the week long event, it seems they embrace the spirit of the event.