Interview: Bill Jennaro
Then,in the mid ‘50s,a major urban renovation started, because of expressway construction, right in the middle of the Italian neighborhood: Italians displaced because of the government’s acquisition of their properties and their houses. And so the festivals stopped, there were no people living there anymore. People in Milwaukee, especially - but not only - of that area, which as a political district was called “third ward”, missed the festivals:and so came out the idea of having a new bigger festival, on the new Summerfest grounds which were being developed on the lake front. Italians came together and made this happen, despite the loss of an Italian neighborhood.
Both Italian organizations and Italian individuals worked together. When it was announced nobody knew if this idea would have been successful, but it was:we have now over a 100.000 people attend eachyear. The festival is a three day event.
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German festival was organized, and then a Polish one, and then the others I mentioned.
But we the Italians were the pioneers.
So, what happens during the Festa?
We have 2000 volunteers to help us with everything that happens during the three days; we have 40 food and winevendors, and five different stages for music, Italian and not: every year we try to have a musical group from Italy.And, obviously, on Sunday we have a mass. This year we are excited about bringing Patrizio Buanne from Europe to headline our festival.
The success of FestaItaliana led other ethnic groups to consider a similar event to celebrate their culture too. So the mayor of Milwaukee, Henry Maier (he’d been mayor for 28 years), of German heritage, called together all the German associations: and there was plenty of them, because Germans are the first ethnic group as for the heritage of Milwaukee, and actually of the whole State of Wisconsin. So the mayor pushed to have a German festival, using these words: “If the Italians can do it, we can do it”! And so the next year a German festival was organized, and then a Polish one, and then the others I mentioned.