Staff Writers
THE Mirboo North Italian Festa is returning to Gippsland to showcase the best of all things Italian.
The free, family-friendly event will bring together a collection of your most-loved Italian food, produce and drinks. The 2023 festa highlight will be the return of crowd favourites, The Flag Throwers and musicians from Faenza in Italy. This will be the only event in Australia where spectators will see this unique and spectacular exhibition of internationally acclaimed performers. Mirboo North Italian Festa coordinator, Rosie Romano, and her team of 10 women have led the festa in its current format since 2016. “That year happened to be a beautiful summer’s day, and we estimated there were about 5000 people, and we were just blown away by that,” Mrs Romano said. “And the following year, we had even more people, even though it rained.” Each year since then, apart from a break due to COVID, the festa has become bigger, with more community involvement and infrastructure needed to put on the event. As with every year of the festa, there will be a line-up of authentic Italian food stalls to satisfy everyone’s appetites, including traditional arancini, handmade gnocchi, salty tasty arrosticini meat skewers, pizza, calamari, spicy barbecue salsicce and the Italian favourite – pasta with all kinds of sauces. For dolce, (Italian for dessert) indulge in gelato, zeppole, tiramisu, biscotti, cannoli and numerous sweet treats. Everything can be washed down with Italian beers, wines or an Aperol Spritz (or two). A highlight will be the Valley’s own GoodLand Brewery producing a Italian expired beer just for the event. For those looking for a non-alcoholic beverage, fresh fruit juice, milkshakes and mocktails will be on hand, along with every type of coffee. Altogether, more than 30 genuine food and drink options will nourish your inner-Italian. “Our aim from the beginning has always been for people to learn something about Italian culture, whether that’s through food, dancing, music, Nonna’s cooking, the exhibitions or displays,” Mrs Romano said. “This year’s live music line-up will be sure to have everyone up and dancing.” The music line-up will include Siesta Cartel and Top Self Duo, MC on the day by James Liotta. Following on from the successful ‘Nonna’s Secret Recipe’ Cookbook, cooking demonstrations will be running throughout the day for people to discover the recipes and secrets of Nonna’s kitchen. Learn how to roll pasta, make traditional pizza the way Nonna does, or unearth the secrets of how Italians make their salami. Performances by magician Luigi Zucchini will keep the kids entertained, along with free children’s activities and games. The Mirboo North Italian Festa is made possible by the state government through the Multicultural Festival & Events Program, and the Gippsland Events Acquisition Fund supported by Regional Development Victoria and South Gippsland Shire Council. The committee would like to thank the Community Bank Mirboo North and District, the Mirboo North and District Community Foundation, and many other local businesses and individuals for their event sponsorship. The Mirboo North Italian Festa is on Sunday, February 12, in Baromi Park, Mirboo North, running from 10am to 4pm. For more information, visit https://www.italianfesta.net/ or find the event on Facebook.
