Christmas, Columbus Day, Valentines Day, opera and Roman Catholicism
Italians are one of the immigrant communities that defined New York City and U.S. American life. The big wave came between the 1850s and 1930s with a peak 1900-1910.
Originally considered an “other,” today nobody thinks of Italian-Americans as anything other than Americans. Columbus Day celebrations played a role in making that shift.
Italian NYC
Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks
Mondays and Tuesdays
IGUANA
Times Square, NYC
New York’s Italian-American 1920s-30s Dixieland jazz specialist
ADAA The Art Show 2020
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
GALA PREVIEW
Thu-Sun, February 27 – March 1, 2020
PARK AVENUE ARMORY
Upper East Side, NYC
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The top U.S. art dealer association’s art fair is showing Argentine, Brazilian, French, Indigenous, Italian, Mexican and Venezuelan artists.
Ash Wednesday
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
This day of repentance starts the Catholic period of devotion leading to Easter. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Juventus NYC
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
FOOTBALL FACTORY AT LEGENDS
Koreatown, NYC
Watch Olympique Lyonnais vs Juventus UEFA Champions League with NYC’s Juventus supporters club, Juventus Official Fan Club Empire State
La Traviata
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
February 26 – March 29, 2020
METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE
Lincoln Center, NYC
Michael Mayer’s 2018 production stars Lisette Oropesa and Luca Salsi. “Sempre libera degg’io” and “Addio, del passato.”
Chicago the Musical
Dark Wednesdays
AMBASSADOR THEATRE
Times Square Theater District, NYC
The original leading ladies of the longest running U.S. musical were Puerto Rican and Italian (Chita Rivera & Liza Minelli)
Socrates Annual
Daily
Oct 5, 2019 – Mar 8, 2020
SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK
Astoria, Queens
The annual exhibition of work by emerging artists created during the park’s summer residency
Chris Botti
March 8, 2020
BERGEN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Englewood, New Jersey
The best-selling American instrumental artist is Italian-American
Tony Bennett
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
COUNT BASIE CENTER
Red Bank, New Jersey
The Italian-New Yorker pop and jazz legend left his heart in San Francisco
Filomena Marturano
Sunday, April 5, 2020
REPERTORIO ESPAÑOL
Kips Bay, NYC
A Spanish adaptation of Eduardo de Filippo’s classic Neapolitan comedy
La Bohème
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
April 29 – May 7, 2020
METROPOLITAN OPERA
Lincoln Center, NYC
Franco Zeffirelli’s classic staging of the world’s most popular opera, the tragic love story of Mimi and Rodolfo
Met Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
[Anticipated]
Mon, Nov 2, 2020 – Sun, Jan 3, 2021
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
Upper East Side, Manhattan
The Christmas tree and nativity of handmade figurines from Naples, Italy where the nativity tradition began, is a New York holiday tradition
Italian Festivals
Saint John’s Eve or Festa Junina
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Italy, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Puerto Rico, New Orleans
Celebrate midsummer (or midwinter) by gathering with family around bonfires on the eve of Saint John the Baptist’s birth
Feast of San Gennaro
September 17-27, 2020
MULBERRY ST
Little Italy, NYC
This popular Italian street fair combines food and live music with a parade and a religious procession
Columbus Day
Monday, October 12, 2020
MIDTOWN, NYC ~ This U.S. holiday was founded to stop racist violence against Italian-Americans. The myths around Columbus Day helped us be accepted as just Americans. Benvenuto! Saluto! Grazie!
Columbus Day Parade
Monday, October 12, 2020
Fifth Avenue
MIDTOWN, NYC
The world’s biggest Italian-American celebration
National Pasta Day
Saturday, October 17, 2020
Pasta is an Italian food made from wheat and water. It was probably first created by Etruscans north of Rome.
Valentine’s Day
Sunday, February 14, 2021
This popular celebration commemorates the death of several Roman saints, all named Saint Valentine, who became associated with romantic love through Arthurian stories in the Middle Ages.
Italian New York City
Manhattan has Little Italys Downtown and a remnant in East Harlem. An important one Arthur Avenue, is in Belmont, The Bronx. Today Bensonhurst, Brooklyn is one of our biggest Little Italys.
Italian New Yorkers
Lady Gaga
Sunday, January 26, 2020
62nd GRAMMY AWARDS
Los Angeles, California
The Italian-French-Canadian New Yorker’s “I’ll Never Love Again” won Best Song Written for Visual Media
Antonio Mannino
A biography of the Italian ballet dancer and actor
Italian Culture
Classical music, opera and ballet have Italian origins. Italian fashion is popular. In the U.S. Italian culture has largely become U.S. American culture. Everybody eats pasta and pizza these days.
The Romans absorbed Greek culture from Greek communities in Southern Italy, and spread this culture around the Mediterranean. When Rome fell, the culture was preserved in Spain by Jewish poets working for Muslim sultans and Christian kings. The Italian Renaissance made Italian culture a pan-European culture. This culture took over the world during the Colonial Era.
The influence of Roman Catholicism is profound, even in traditions that we no longer see as religious. Christmas is just one example of an Italian tradition that has lost its religious meaning.
Carnival, Carnaval, Carnevale
SEASON
January 6 – February 25, 2020
MONTH
January 26-February 25, 2020
WEEK
February 19-25, 2020
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Carnival is a month of partying before Lent that now has European, Caribbean and Brazilian forms. In the Americas, Carnival is an important expression of who we are as Africans and Latins.
Saint Joseph
Thursday, March 19, 2020 ~ The Catholic Feast of Saint Joseph is the Latin Father’s Day
Feast of the Ascension
Thursday, May 21, 2020
The religious narrative of Jesus rising into the heavens mirrors the natural narrative of crops growing towards the sky
August (Augustus Caesar)
Saturday, August 1, 2020
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt
The month of August is named for Octavian, the Roman emperor later known as Augustus, who defeated the forces of Antony and Cleopatra on August 1, 30 BC
Italy
Italy’s National Day La Festa della Repubblica
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Italian national day
ITALY ~ The Italian people voted to end the monarchy and found the Republic of Italy on June 2, 1946
Continue Reading Italy’s National Day La Festa della Repubblica
Watch the Venice Film Festival for future Oscar winners
Aug 28 – Sep 7, 2019
VENICE, Italy ~ The Truth (France), The Laundromat (Panama), Joker (Puerto Rico), Wasp Network (Cuba, Spain, Venezuela, Mexico) and The King (France) are big movies with Latin connections
Continue Reading Watch the Venice Film Festival for future Oscar winners
Grazie