The Italian food festival will feature new Peroni pop-up cinema and arts and culture strand
Think Italy, think Italian food. A little slice of the Bel Paese is returning to Manchester for the August bank holiday. Festa Italiana Manchester is a free-to-enter, weekend-long celebration of all things delizioso and we are delighted it's back.
The Festa will be hosting workshops, demonstrations, book signings and banquets from top-class chefs such as Aldo Zilli, Giancarlo Caldesi, Gennaro Contaldo and Festa founder Maurizio Cecco.
There'll be lots more Italian brands, producers, restaurants and bars involved too – from pizza to prosecco and back again.
Inspired by Manchester's Italian heritage, as well as the traditional festivals found all over Italy, the Festa is all about coming together to socialise, enjoy beautiful food, delectable drinks and live music.
Over lockdown you may have seen Sienna Cecco, a talented chef with her own YouTube channel and TV appearances under her belt, providing cooking tutorials for families on Facebook Live. She’ll be leading free kids cooking classes throughout the Festa. By the way, Sienna is 12 and takes after her dad Maurizio in the foodie stakes. Maurizio, of course, presides over the wonderful Salvi's restaurant - we can't think of a better mentor.
Carmela Sereno Hayes, the pastaia (specialist pasta maker) and author, will also be making a welcome return to Festa Italiana and giving pasta fans a masterclass in cutting, filling and cooking the staple.
Salvi’s Pop-Up Deli will be a Festa fixture selling the very best in authentic Italian produce, complemented by street food from some of Manchester’s finest vendors and restaurateurs.
After food, the thing Italians do best is culture. Now in its fourth year after a Covid-enforced break, the festival has reinvigorated its line up by adding in an arts and culture strand. Beer behemoth Peroni will be popping up a portable cinema complete with bean bags, deck chairs, popcorn, aperitivo boxes, Peroni on tap and themed screenings of movie classics such as Cinema Paradiso, Romeo and Juliet and La Dolce Vita. Plus look out for live music and a hush-hush (for now) photography exhibition.
Festa Italiana, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester city centre, 27-29 August 11am-11pm
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