Melbourne, 29 Oct. (askanews) – The Italian heart of Melbourne beats like never before. And this year it was felt right up to the edge of Carlton Gardens, between the smell of fresh pasta and the live music coming out of the Royal Exhibition Building. Over 130 thousand people in two days: a record for the Festa Italiana & Expo 2025which transformed a community event into a city festival, open, curious, full of different accents and the desire to be together.
Co.As.It of Melbourne is behind the direction, the Italian Assistance Committee founded sixty years ago to provide support to the Italian communityand which over time has built a perfect machine: over 200 exhibitors, a 2 million dollar investment, fifty food stands, jazz concerts, including that of Rita Marcotulli, exhibitions, culinary competitions and spaces for families. A celebration that has evolved over time and which now no longer belongs only to the Italian-Australian community.
Elaine Bocchini, marketing & branding specialist of Co.As.It. explains it: “The new philosophy is to create an event that is aimed not only at the Italian community to celebrate our origins, our traditions, but which is open to a wider audience, including a multicultural Australian audience to which we want to present, promote and propose the Italian product in the same way which includes culture, art, not just food and wine, but much, much more”.
The festival takes place every year in the heart of Carlton’s historic Italian neighborhood. “We chose this building – continues Elaine Bocchini – the Royal Exibilding, because it is in the Carlton district, which is the district where the Italians arrived many, many years ago and because it offered us the possibility of using both internal space and external space to increase our proposal. The building, as you can see, is a building that is reminiscent of many of the buildings found in Italy and has a dome that was inspired by Brunelleschi, which brings us even closer to our Italy”.
For Coasit CEO Marco Fedi, the event is no longer just a party but has an economic and social value that politics should recognize.
“It is a moment of possible promotion also for Italian companies – observes Bocchini – because first of all there is a huge audience. The audience includes Australians and people who do not know Italian products. And here we offer much more than food and wine. Here there is all the Italian production, from art to fashion, from cars to household objects. Any Italian product can be promoted and represented here”.
And in fact the Festival is a small integration laboratory: young and old, Italians, Australians, Asians, Europeans, mixed between artisanal cocktails and Apulian focaccias. 42% of visitors are under 35 years old, which says a lot: Italianness is not inherited, it is rediscovered.
Perhaps this is the secret of success: a piece of Italy that is renewed at every edition, with no longer any need for borders. The festival remains “Italian” only in name; in essence it is a successful experiment in shared belonging. A language made of music, cuisine and smiles – which everyone in Melbourne has been able to speak for some time.
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