August 21-23 - Festa Italiana Portland’s Italian American Festival
Ready for some real Italian eats? August 21 through the 23rd is Portland's Italian-American Festival located at the Pioneer Courthouse Square from 11 AM until 11 PM Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Celebrating Italian American culture in Portland, the Festa Italiana not only has amazing Italian culture, booths and food but had some events leading up to this next weekend. This last weekend was mass in Italian at the St. Michael the Archangel Church at 7 PM. On Sunday was the bocce tournament at Cedarville Park and on Tuesday, August 19 at 7 PM, the festival will offer a Festa Italian Movie Night at the 5th Avenue Cinema presenting "Garibaldi's Lovers", a 2012 Italian comedy film directed by Silvio Soldini. 
Then, on Thursday, August 21, the festivities begin at Pioneer Courthouse Square with nonstop entertainment, delicious Italian food, a wine and beer garden, contests, vendors and more. There's even Opera on Thursday night, perfect for all ages.
After the three days of fun and festivities, on October 18 at 5:30 PM the festival presents the Columbus Day dinner and dance at the Portland golf club. This is located at 5900 SW. Scholls Ferry Road in Portland. Tickets are $50 each and may be purchased at this festival this weekend. This will be also a great night of food, wine, entertainment and music. There's fabulous door prizes and delicious Italian fare.
But before that, everyone will be enjoying the Festa Italiana in Portland this next weekend. Get ready to shake your booty, dive into some delectable and tender homemade pasta, authentic sauces, and rich, bold Chianti. Image by Szapucki
How they got started:
The Festa Italiana got its start in 1991 when several Italian American organizations and their community recognized the unifying of the culture and wanted to share their traditions with the entire Portland community. This nonprofit organization was designed to promote Italian culture throughout the greater Portland community. This massive celebration is indicative to the culture and heritage of true Italian celebrations; not only celebrating one night, but many. This event is held the third week of every August and they're always looking for volunteers, more vendors, and more attendees as this growing event gets the word out.
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