“Abbondanza” is a good word to describe the upcoming weekend in San Jose’s Little Italy.
After hosting a block party a couple of weeks ago, this historic district will hold a grand opening for the Little Italy San Jose Museum, located in a beautifully restored house next to Poor House Bistro (and already the home of the Italian cellar bar). The event will take place Friday, Oct. 4, with a dinner and concert by Vanessa Racci and Cory Pesatauro. Tickets are available for that event at www.littleitalysj.com/events.
That leads up to the seventh annual Little Italy Festival on Sunday, Oct. 6, with tons of food — sausage with polenta, arancini, lasagna, risotto, pizza, cannoli, sfingi, tiramisu and more — live music and street performers from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eataly, the upscale Italian food emporium at Valley Fair, will have a booth at the festival (and will also contribute appetizers to the museum dinner).
Festival admission is free.
After an opening ceremony with national anthems, the concerts will begin. Headliner Pasquale Esposito, the popular tenor from Naples who now makes his home in San Jose, will take the stage at 3:15 p.m., and the Anthony Nino Lane Band will close out the festivities.
Car lovers will want to check it out, too, as there will be more than 150 Italian cars and motorcycles on display, making this one of the largest Italian car shows in the United States. This includes “Supercars” like Lamborghinis and Ferraris, as well as five examples of the ultra rare Ferrari Enzo, of which only 126 were ever imported to the U.S.
Little Italy San Jose Executive Director Joshua DeVincenzi Melander says he’s encouraged by seeing more groups, like the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy and Beautify San Jose, playing a part in Little Italy’s development.
“It’s all really starting to come together now,” he said. “We’re starting to get other people to assist.”
Details: Little Italy San Jose is located at Julian and North Almaden. Parking for both the block party and festival will be available for $6 at SAP Center. Find the schedule of events at www.littleitalysj.com/little-italy-san-jose-festival.
