The annual Hoboken Italian Festival was held on Sinatra Drive over the weekend of September 10. Sinatra Drive is conveniently located under the Babbio Center, giving easy access for Stevens students on campus. The festival brought with it joyous laughs, plenty of music and, of course, excellent food. For those familiar with Italian culture, the festival is also known as the “Feast of the Madonna Dei Martiri”. Some notable events from the weekend included the Cannoli Eating Contest on Saturday and the My Kind of Town Sinatra tribute on Sunday.
In addition to those events, the festival featured bouncy parks, slides, a rock climbing wall, carnival-type rides, and trampolines. Unfortunately, if you looked like an adult, you were denied entry to the kid-themed attractions. The carnival games resembled those you would find at any typical fair-like carnival: some of the prizes included inflatable weapons and even giant stuffed cartoon characters. Along with the attractions, on Sunday night there was a fireworks display over the Hudson that proved to be spectacular.
The festival is also peculiar because it displays a cultural look on Italian history through the feasting and the celebration that is an integral part in the understanding of Italy’s personality. That was all due to the “We Light the Tradition” project, put on by the folks responsible for the festival. The staff, as well as everyone who went, are to thank for this movement since it is a crowdfunded project. Overall, the festivities have proved their worth to the crowds of people in attendance through their shared laughs and joyous moments. Special thanks to the vendors and event planners that have worked together to make this possible. Hoboken is looking forward to another great festival next year.
