Bookmark and Share

RapidSSL



If you find incorrect information or missing contact details. Please click here

Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival

Bookmark and Share
Location Wheeling
Dates July 24, 2015 - July 26, 2015
Description:

From Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival Website:

The Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival began in 1983 as the brain child of Anthony Zambito, Vincent Colaianni, Anthony Iannarelli and Benny Battistelli who visited the Clarksburg Italian Festival together in 1982 and who yearned to begin such a great tradition in Wheeling. They gathered a team of volunteers from the Italian-American Clubs throughout the Ohio Valley. The group quickly put together a board of directors and a plan of action. Each of the founders invested $5000.00 to get the ball rolling. And roll it did!

In 1987, The Italian Festival finally made a substantial profit. The board of directors decided to place the proceeds into a perpetual trust fund that awards annual scholarships to college-bound students from the region, regardless of their ethnic background. The board started small back then, handing out six $350.00 scholarships to one student per county. Now, 13 annual scholarships of $1000.00 each are awarded equally to students from each of the surrounding counties, with an additional scholarship, honoring past Chairman Michael Sinicropi, awarded at-large to a student planning to enter the profession of broadcast journalism. To date, the Festival Scholarship Program has distributed over $250,000.00 in awards to area students.

Through the years, Wheeling's Italian Festival grew larger and more popular. By the time that the Heritage Port construction had been completed, the Festival on Market Street was the largest outdoor festival in the Upper Ohio Valley. In 2000, the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation approached the board of directors and requested that the Italian Festival be re-located to the waterfront so the new Heritage Ports potential could be fully realized. To the chagrin of some who hate any type of change, the board voted unanimously to grant the request, and the modern-day Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival was born in July 2001.

The decision to move the Italian Festival to the waterfront proved to be an excellent one, as the Wheeling Festival is the second-largest Italian festival in the United States, even surpassing the Milwaukee festival in attendance. It is estimated that over 150,000 people enjoy the Wheeling Italian Festival, with some families planning their family reunions around the Italian Festival dates.

The Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival is the undisputed Granddaddy of outdoor festivals in this area of the country and one of the largest in West Virginia. The volunteer board of directors takes great pride in presenting this annual event which helps our children succeed through education, while celebrating our Italian culture and heritage and creating a medium for friends and neighbors of all nationalities to meet and enjoy one anothers company.
PhoneSign Up To Be A Member
Event WebsiteSign Up To Be A Member
Year #n/a
Art/Craft Space
price
$300
Maps and Directions (from Google Maps)
For ended craft show, fairs and festivals, please go to our archive page.