Omaha Exploration

This weekend the 101st Santa Lucia Festival is taking place near the Little Italy neighborhood at 10th and William Streets. Having started in 1925, it is one of Omaha’s oldest summer festivals and one that my family visits each year.

The festival features plenty of food ranging from sausage pizza, sausage and peppers, meatball sandwiches, mostaccioli, ravioli, gelato, fried bread dough, cannoli and more in addition to a beer and wine garden. Activities include a bocce ball tournament, live music, dancing and a fun zone featuring multiple bounce houses for the kids. While it’s free to get into the festival, entry to the fun zone is $10. The festival ends with a fireworks show on Sunday.

The festival was first organized by Grazia Bonafede Caniglia. After immigrating from Carlentini, Sicily, she made it her mission to recreate the Santa Lucia Festival that was held in her native country right here in Omaha. Many of this city’s Italian immigrants were also from Carlentini. She did so in order to give immigrants a strong connection with their former country and to deepen their faith in their new homeland.

Grazia was a woman of deep faith and walked from 6th and Pierce Street at 5 every morning to say her prayers at nearby St. Philomena Catholic Church (now St. Frances Cabrini). Her husband, Rosario, opened one of the city’s first Italian bakeries that would become its first pizzaria. The Caniglia children would go on to open a number of iconic Omaha restaurants including Piccolo Pete’s, Mister C’s and Venice Inn. Check out the link in the comments to learn more and to see the schedule of events this weekend.

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