Italian Festa Celebrates 123rd Year

Dressed in a blue tee shirt with ​“Amalfi” printed across the chest, Fran Calabrese remembered walking hand in hand with her grandfather to a Wooster Square-hosted celebration of St. Andrew when she was just three years old.

Now 70, Calabrese returned on Thursday to that very same neighborhood Italian festa — which for her is about carrying on the traditions of Amalfi and honoring the miracle performed by New Haven’s patron saint.

Calabrese attended the opening night of this year’s Saint Andrew’s Society Annual Festa, selling ​“Amalfi” tee shirts with plans to dedicate the proceeds to the St. Andrew’s Society, which she is a lifelong member of. 

The organization, founded to support Italian immigrants arriving in New Haven, has been hosting the annual festa for 123 years. 

The festivities began this Thursday at 515 Chapel St. and will culminate in a procession on Sunday as members carry the statue of St. Andrew to St. Michael’s Church. The festivities occur in a similar fashion and at the same time in Amalfi. 

Calabrese’s husband Andy, who witnessed the Amalfi celebration himself, said continuing the tradition in New Haven connects him to his heritage. Andy occupied a tent beside his wife on Thursday. Each side of his tent was covered with framed newspapers, photographs, and maps documenting the history of the city’s Italian community. 

Nearby, attendees lined up to try the festival’s famous fried dough with tomato sauce, which St. Andrew’s Society public relations coordinator Victoria Verderame called ​“the best in the city.” 

As folks sat down to eat, Charlie Salerno and Angelo Sapia serenaded the crowd with classic Italian ballads from artists like Andrea Bocelli. The pair spread smiles across the crowd who cheered to every song. 

Chuck Mascola held his phone up to video record the performance and said, ​“Italians just like to be happy, man.” 

Later, the small square became packed with people ready to head off on their annual parade through the neighborhood. Led by a group from the Knights of Columbus, families marched down streets blocked off by New Haven police. 

As they completed their loop and came back to the square, the crowd gathered around a curtained statue of St. Andrew.

Before the year’s honorees Mel and Joyce Sanseverino unveiled the saint, a load of firecrackers boomed from behind the square. The roaring sound blasted through the air and went on for minutes before stopping.

Some children cried, and some adults covered their ears, and stood bewildered by the might of the explosions; the fireworks were meant to recreate the sound of canons fired towards Amalafi’s shores before St. Andrew conjured a storm that drove the assailants away.

As the Sanseverinos revealed St. Andrew’s statue, the crowd cheered and families hugged one another rejoicing in the opening of yet another year continuing their tradition.