By Elena Buckley | SDUN Editorial Assistant

Eat, drink and be Sicilian. The 18th annual Sicilian Festival lives by this motto, a refrain that encourages kicking up one’s heels, abandoning one’s diet and generally throwing care to the wind.

On May 22, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., along India Street, from Grape to Beech streets, the free festival will offer five stages, with music, dancing, Sicilian fare, cultural exhibitions, a parade, demonstrations and a free children’s activity area—all features of the original festival initiated by the late Mario Cefalu in 1993 after he immigrated from Portocello, Sicily, to San Diego and opened Soluntos Bakery, now a Little Italy staple on India Street.

Though small and completely funded by Cefalu, the first Sicilian Festival offered restaurant vendors plying their wares in the street and music provided by the Roman Holiday Italian Band.

“It started because he wanted everyone to experience Sicilian culture,” Bernadette Tarantino, the festival’s operations director said. “In San Diego, the population that came to Little Italy was mostly Sicilian. [Cefalu] was devoted and committed to that. It was a passion, something he wanted to continue. He asked me to continue it, and that’s what I’m doing.”

Tarantino and entertainment director Giovanna DiBona—who along with her husband founded the Roman Holiday Italian Band—began assisting Cefalu with the festival in 2004 and have taken it over completely since his passing in 2007.

The festival is now funded through two main sponsors: Tarantino Gourmet Sausages and Bella Sera Wines, which will bring Emmy award-winning chef Giada de Laurentiis to conduct a cooking demonstration at 2:30 p.m. on the Date Street stage.

The festival usually draws up to 50,000 people, and according to Tarantino double that number are expected
this year, with visitors traveling all the way from Los Angeles and Arizona to see the vast variety of Italian and Sicilian music and dance genres, from opera to accordion, and to sample authentic Sicilian edibles such as Italian rum cake, biscotti, sausages and zeppoli, an Italian fried dough. A beer garden is also available, and a pasta eating contest at 1:45 p.m., sponsored by Mona Lisa Italian Foods, will ensure no one leaves hungry.

“Because [Sicily] is an island, all of these cultures fueled a special culture, and that’s what we try and highlight with our festival,” DiBona said. “The music is important; the dance is important. We have dancers who do the traditional Italian and Sicilian dances; we sing old Sicilian songs [and] we highlight the food, which is always a big element.”

Amid acts such as Cristina Fontanelli, the Balboa Park Italian Dance Troupe; assorted local acts; The Screamin’ Primas—saluting Louis Prima’s cross of New Orleans/Sicilian music—and a Frank Sinatra tribute, the Sicilian Flag Procession at 11:15 a.m. will showcase traditional colorful costumes and flags.

At the heart of the festival, a cultural pavilion will exhibit posters and pictures depicting Little Italy in its early days and offer presentations such as Jim Bregante’s “San Diego Waterfront through the Eyes of a Child.” Visitors will also be able to bring in their own photos to be scanned, archived and/or published in historical books about Little Italy.

This festival, DiBona explained, brings together not only San Diego’s Italian and Sicilian communities but every other community in San Diego too.

“Like any ethnic festival, it’s really nice, even if you’re not affiliated at all with Italy or Sicily,” DiBona said. “It’s a great, fun place to go assimilate some of the culture.”

For more information, or a map of where to find free parking, visit: sicilianfesta.com.