Yesterday I went to the Columbus Italian Festival. I used to go to all the cultural festivals in Toledo (where I'm from), so it was nice to be at an event that felt familiar. Everything about college is so new... the sights, voices, noises, scents, flavors, etc. The Italian-ice, lasagna, dancing, gambling and singing is more or less the same no matter which culture appreciating, festival hosting city you find it in.
The church that hosted it was gorgeous, the people were friendly, the music was good, the dancing was entraining, the food was delicious, and the world's largest meatball, though, I heard, slightly smaller than the world's largest, was a humorous sight to behold. I especially enjoyed the tent with art for sale. The oil paintings of Italy we're beautiful and, from my perspective, had a dream like quality about them. Most of all, I enjoyed watching the copper painted man move from his statue position and startle onlookers whenever little kids dashed forward to place their parents' donations in the urn.
Another added bonus for the evening- I took my English conversation partner, Yinghao, with me to the festival. Before we left I explained that in the US, because we have so many people from different backgrounds, we like to have festivals to celebrate each other's culture. He told me they have festivals in China for holidays, but not for Greeks, Irish, Italians, etc. My friend and I got him to try Italian ice, which he enjoyed. I took him in the Catholic Church and explained all the statues, pictures and architecture styles. He told me that he hadn't been around so many Americans all at once. Also, that in China it's crowed everywhere he goes. He says a lot of the shopping malls are as crowded as the festival was last night! Can you imagine that!?
Everyone I talked to enjoyed the festivities hosted by St. John's Church. For me, it was nice to be around the familiar. For my friend Yinghao, it was a mess of new things. Overall, it was a very nice event.
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I had a great time at the Italian festival too. I had a great time walking around with my friends, listening to the music, smelling all the food, and seeing all of the art and craft displays. The moving statue was amazing. I can't imagine having to stand so still with out talking or opening my eyes for such a long time! Unfortunatly, I was unable to try any of the Italian food because of food allergies, but I did eat a big bag of cotton candy!
ReplyDeleteI loved the Italian festival! It was full of so much culture and I thought it was great to be able to bring together so many people. I had some pizza from there and it was delicous. I also really enjoyed all the people dancing and the singers. The booths all looked amazing and it was good to see such friendly people welcome you to their festival.
ReplyDeleteThe Italian Festival has been my favorite event that I have been to so far. The food was obviously amazing. I ate a variety of different desserts including italian ice, cupcakes, and cotton candy, mmm. We also liked seeing the world's largest meatball even though we didnt actually see it as it was kept in a giant cage... The bus ride home was very interesting, with an angry bus driver who kicked half of our group off the bus lol.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the Italian Festival was great. The highlight was obviously the amazing food. I had a deep fried calzone, delicious despite how unhealthy it was. The church was beautiful and everyone was very friendly. I was slightly disappointed at the rather anticlimactic "worlds biggest meatball".. it wasn't actually the worlds biggest and it was kept in some sort of weird cage.
ReplyDelete-Kayla Byler
The Italian Festival was a lot of fun, but reminded me of so many other festivals. Somewhat overpriced, and smaller than you imagine when you first arrive. I'm not complaining though, my cannoli was delicious and I watched these huge,hairy Jersey Shore- looking guys make my pizza (it sounds kinda weird,but it was very good). Having been to Italy last summer, it reminded me of the people there and how much pride they have in their country.Salute!
ReplyDeleteThe Italian Festival was a blast, although I tended to keep losing the people I was with in massive lines for food :) The giant meatball was definitely interesting, although a bit disappointing considering we could only see the cage that it was cooked in, and not the actual meatball. The general atmosphere of the crowds was joyful and OSU spirited (I saw a couple adorable little girls in OSU cheerleader outfits) and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to do once you'd eaten everyone you wanted to eat. If it was even possible to eat everything one would want to eat there. Corbo's had a stand selling assorted sweets that I was very excited about because they are from Cleveland, which I live near. I also had an awesome experience of watching a funnel cake being made for the first time in my life. Our most eventful part of the excursion was undoubtably the bus ride back to campus with a very nasty bus driver, but all in all I had lots of fun and came back very full.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Italian festival a lot. Yeah, it was a little over priced for the size of it and I wish it was a little cheaper since I spent a bunch of money on food, also :). The food was amazing and I really enjoyed all of the different booths (especially the art one). The church was beautiful and I loved the guy painted like a statue. (it reminded me of the ones that I saw when I visited New Orleans a few years ago). We saw a group of dancers, which was fun. I only wish I was a little younger so I could've done all of the games the little kids had! Overall, it was a nice experience.
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