The people came to enjoy a weekend of everything Italian and they were not disappointed. From the sounds of accordions, the beautiful tenor voice of ALFIO to the aromas of Italian sausages and marinara sauce simmer in huge pots.
 
The Italian Family Festa, in its 34th year in San Jose, delivered a festive end of summer event.
 
Weaved into the music and food, was grape stomping, a fantastic wine tasting garden featuring local Italian wineries and never to be too far from the Italian heritage, a family roots project.
 
There was a variety of unique entertainment starting culinary demonstrations, Italian book readings and a photo opportunity area where people really enjoyed having their pictures taken with friends and family, instantly posting to Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites really had the Festa buzzing this year.
 
There was also “flash mob” opera performance by the First Street Opera Singers of San Jose. A surprise for everyone even the event planners. The crowd gathered around to hear them sing and just when they finished and were preparing to disappear as quickly as they had appeared only minutes before two elderly ladies came up on stage.
 
They were there to cross off a line on their bucket list. So at age 88 and 84, these two friends climbed inside the wine barrels and began to stomp grapes. They stomped and squealed at the feel of the grapes between their toes. There’s one thing you can count on from Italians, you never know what to expect but it’s always done with love and family and heart. BRAVO Italian Family Festa!

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