Italian Day will bring hundreds of thousands to Commercial Drive in Vancouver

by Charlie Smith on June 13th, 2015 at 10:53 AM

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Italian Canadians have certainly made Vancouver a far more interesting place.

This is been apparent in Bruno Freschi's architecture, Bobby Lenarduzzi's soccer playing, Lui Passaglia's placekicking, Yvonne De Carlo's acting, and Ken Georgetti's labour advocacy.

According to the 2011 census, there are 150,660 British Columbians of Italian ancestry. And no, they don't all live in Trail. More than half are here in the Lower Mainland.

You can expect many of them to converge on Commercial Drive, aka Little Italy, for the annual Italian Day celebration on Sunday (June 14) from noon to 8 p.m.

It will cover 13 blocks.

Italy, of course, has a phenomenal artistic heritage, giving the world Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Federico Fellini, Sandro Botticelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Giorgio Armani, and Isabella Rossellini.

Another Italian great, Andrea Bocelli, will be in Vancouver this weekend for a Sunday concert at Rogers Arena.

Comments

3 Comments

Edward Bernays

Jun 15, 2015 at 2:18am

I hope there will be lots of corporate reps set up to promote all the great boring things that have nothing to do with Italy! Now that's a spicy informational display!

Sgt Transom

Jun 15, 2015 at 7:32am

@Edward Bernays,

Sorry but your hopes for a failure didn't materialize. It was a great day with good food everywhere, much of being Italian, along with two stages of traditional Italian music and from what I could see in the two hours I was there were people enjoying the atmosphere and good weather.

It was packed with people of all ages and ethnicity and I would say that it's probably one of the most popular summer festivals in Vancouver. I'm looking forward to Greek Days and the Khatsahlano Festival next. You'll also be pleased to know that I didn't allow the corporate beasts to control my mind or get any of my money. Little Italy is alive and thriving.