Bella Italia!

Monday 15 May 2017

Organisers of Jersey’s revived Italian Cultural Festival say this weekend’s ‘mediterranean weather’ was the icing on the cake for what they say was a very successful event.

Hundreds took the opportunity to bask in the sun at People’s Park and soak up the best of Italy.

It’s the first time the event has been staged in more than 20 years.

One of the biggest crowd-pullers was a series of cookery demonstrations by renowned celebrity TV chef Gino D’Acampo. Equally popular were a number of wine tasting events, which as well as featuring some of the most renowned and well-known names also included some that only the experts had probably ever heard of.

But, it wasn’t all about food and drink.

In one of the marquees there was a display of mopeds and cars that have made Italy famous including Vespas, Fiats and Ferraris.

In another there was a chance to learn a few words of Italian, or a string of fashion shows and screenings of a number of classic Italian films including Cinema Paradiso.

During the late 1950s and 1960s many Italians came to the Island to work in the hospitality industry. Since then they’ve gone on to establish themselves at the heart of Island life and introduced hundreds of islanders to the joys of Italian gastronomy. Local author Hamish Marett-Crosby has now compiled their stories in a new book, Italy’s Other Island, which he chose to launch at the festival.