The Coffs Coast Italian Heritage Group will open the gates of Coffs Harbour Racecourse on Saturday, 22 August, for the Ciao Coffs Festa Italiana, a day of food, music and history celebrating the region’s Italian community, with proceeds supporting the Children’s Ward at Coffs Harbour Health Campus.
The festival, which runs from 10 am to 4 pm, is the not-for-profit group’s chance to recognise the contribution Italian families have made to the Coffs Coast since the first arrivals in the region, with some families tracing their history back to 1926.
Among the earliest was the Spagnolo family, who came to the Coffs Coast from the Armidale region before the war. Three brothers arrived together, though their paths diverged sharply once war broke out, with two of the brothers interned while the third served in the Australian Army.
The majority of Italian migrants settled on the Coffs Coast after the Second World War, arriving between 1954 and 1960 to work in the banana growing industry and small crop farming.
Franco Maione, Vice President of the Coffs Coast Italian Heritage Group, said the festival was about honouring what those families brought with them.
“It’s to celebrate what Italian immigrants brought to the Coffs Coast,” Mr Maione said.
Many of the early arrivals were farm workers, or cottadini, in Italy before the war, and brought that knowledge of the land with them to their new home. Mr Maione’s own family history reflects the region’s wartime connections.
His uncle was captured while serving in Ethiopia during the Second World War and transported back to Australia, first to a camp at Cowra and then to a prisoner of war camp at Dorrigo. From there he was sent to work on a farm and sawmill owned by local man Bill Polger, one of many Italian prisoners of war put to work on local farms during a wartime shortage of agricultural labour.
At the heart of the festival will be the group’s History Wall, where families are encouraged to share photographs and stories of their migration to Australia. A large map of the district will also be on display, allowing visitors to locate the sites of former family banana plantations and recognise the generations of Italian growers who helped establish the Coffs Coast as one of Australia’s great banana-producing regions.
Among the images to feature is a black and white photograph of three Italian banana growers, Franco Rubo, Amedeo Zeccinati and Luigi Zeccinati, two of whom are still living.
Mr Maione said piecing together that history had been a rewarding, if sometimes difficult, task, with much of the group’s work now falling to the first generation of Australian-born family members to record their parents’ stories before they are lost. The group’s Cheryl Del Pozzo assists families with genealogy research where records are hard to find.
“Here we are, we know all these people, we’ve lived together for 50 plus years and yet we don’t know their story,” Mr Maione said.
The festival will also acknowledge the newer generation of Italian migrants who have settled on the Coffs Coast in recent years, many drawn by opportunities in hospitality and food.
“They all feel that it’s a little bit more prosperous here in Australia than what it is in Italy,” Mr Maione said.
Food will be a major feature of the day, with authentic Italian cuisine including porchetta and panini from Stef & Co, traditional Italian salsicce, fresh pasta from Bellingen Pasta and Leonella Pasta, and homemade crostoli and biscotti prepared by local Italian ladies. Cooked chestnuts, a traditional and nutritious Italian favourite enjoyed for generations, will also be available.
The chestnut cooking carries its own history. Mr Maione said the tradition dated back to community festivals held decades ago, when chestnuts were roasted over an open fire in winter, a practice the group has continued at the festival, cooking the nuts in a large pan over a burner in place of an open flame.
“It’s a continuation of that tradition,” Mr Maione said.
Entertainment throughout the day will include Salvatore Rossano and his band Sud, alongside Sydney-based mezzo-soprano Lisa Genovese performing a mix of modern and traditional Italian songs. Roaming accordionist Giri Mazzella will add to the atmosphere, while gladiators will entertain the crowd and provide photo opportunities. A bocce tournament will offer some friendly competition, and visitors can also admire a display of classic Italian cars and motorbikes.
Also travelling from Sydney is the president of the Australian Alpini Group, a national organisation with roots in Italy’s specialist mountain defence force, who will bring a display of Alpini memorabilia to the festival. The Coffs Coast once had its own Alpini group, and the display will pay tribute to that history alongside the wider Italian community’s story.
Families will be well catered for, with face painting, carnival games and gelato for the children.
The festival will officially be opened by the Mayor, and organisers said the day was about bringing the wider community together, not just those with Italian heritage.
Mr Maione said the festival was ultimately about honouring those who came before, while supporting a cause close to the community’s heart through funds raised for the Children’s Ward at Coffs Harbour Health Campus.
Whether visitors have Italian heritage of their own or simply enjoy experiencing different cultures, organisers say everyone is welcome to come along and be part of a day celebrating one of the Coffs Coast’s most enduring and vibrant communities.
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