'It's all about the food' (16 photos)

“It’s all about the food,” a smiling Gino Cavallo, G. Marconi Society vice-president, told SooToday.com.

There was a large, happy gathering of Sault Ste. Marie’s Italian community at the Marconi Club Sunday to mark the G. Marconi Society’s annual Italian Festival.

Hard-working, cheerful Marconi Club staff prepared enough bread, salad and ravioli for 1,000 people.

Admission was free, only food and beverages had to be paid for.

One didn’t have to be Italian or Italian-Canadian to feel welcome.

Admission was free and open to everyone.

“We’re a real open people, it’s open to the public,” said G. Marconi Society president Vince Vernelli.

“This is basically our signature event of the year, to promote and maintain Italian culture and traditions, passing them on to the younger kids and a chance to reflect on our roots,” Cavallo said.

Sunday’s festival, scheduled to run from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., included outdoor musical entertainment provided by Fabio Trioli (an Italian singer who now calls the Sault his home), Aardvark the Magician, face painting and balloons for children, miniature train rides for kids of all ages, indoor musical entertainment by the band Satisfaction and Pino Gioia (a singer from Italy who travels to Canada to perform at Italian festivals), and of course, great food.

While there may have been a sense of disappointment Italy wasn’t playing in the World Cup of Soccer final game, fans gathered inside to watch Germany beat Argentina 1-0 to capture the 2014 World Cup of Soccer.  

Established in Sault Ste. Marie in 1912, the men’s lodge of the G. Marconi Society currently has approximately 350 members, with approximately 400 members in the Elettra Marconi Society (the ladies auxiliary of the G. Marconi Society).