Today my parents and I went to the annual Festa Della Madonna, which is to celebrate the patron saint of the town my dad comes from in Italy, which is Maria S.S. Di Constantinopoli.
The story is that the town was suffering from a cholera outbreak and a picture of Maria Di Constantinopoli washed up on shore, and the town people were cured of the cholera.
Because of the large population of people from my dads town in Toronto, they have their own association and hold an annual festa here. The really cool and large one is in the actual town in Italy, which is just outside of Bari City.
The festival used to take place right in central Toronto, however they have moved the festival to a park one hour out of the city, and they have the parade through the park and everyone BBQ's, and there is dancing, etc.
Some years, bus trips of people come from NYC, Chicago, and other places in the USA.
A smaller festival for the same saint are held in Los Angeles on Broadway in downtown LA, and my parents went to it this year.
Anyway enjoy a quick look at the Toronto one. I think cultural festivals like this are really important and special.
Closing prayer after the procession.
The handing out of the blessed bread.
And of course what Italians can't wait to do, eat. The rest of the afternoon is eating.
These things are disgusting as far as I am concerned, but people from my dads town go nuts for them. They are shipped to Toronto once a year.
People usually make the rounds around the park saying "hi" to people they don't get to see often. So you can catch people just stopping anywhere in the park and catching up with people.
There is even some singing and dancing.
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