Festival serves up a treat

SUN, spaghetti and watermelon have proved the perfect combination to draw record crowds to the seventh annual Festa Italia.

2016 Italian Festival. Mamma Rosa was a crowd favourite. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

SUN, spaghetti and watermelon have proved the perfect combination to draw record crowds to North Hobart for the seventh annual Festa Italia.

Hosted by the Australian Italian Club, up to 18,000 people joined in the celebration of food, wine and music as Federal St was closed to traffic for the day.

Mamma Rosa‘s antics were a favourite with the crowd.

Luca Caporelli, 5, of Sandy Bay, gives a pinata a whack with some help from Dino Ottavi.

“We’ve had a bumper crowd today, definitely above our expectations,” Festa Italia secretary Carmen Brazendale said.

“Stallholders were all really buzzing and busy, everyone enjoyed the food and of course ice-cream was popular with the kids as usual.”

As pizza fans queued into the distance, other patrons were served up Italian wines, cakes and desserts, while kids expended their energy on a nearby jumping castle.

Festival-goers of all ages were kept entertained by the likes of comedy chef Mama Rosa, performance artist Tony Voglino, and the Viva Italia show, with Melbourne-based host James Liotta keeping things running as MC.

The Festa Italia crowd fills Federal St.

“The event is just becoming more and more popular every year, and we had such a great day weatherwise,” Ms Brazendale said. “It was just a fantastic, happy day.”