[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki10\/italian-heritage-festival-wikipedia\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki10\/italian-heritage-festival-wikipedia\/","headline":"Italian Heritage Festival – Wikipedia","name":"Italian Heritage Festival – Wikipedia","description":"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival takes place each year on Labor Day weekend in","datePublished":"2016-12-01","dateModified":"2016-12-01","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki10\/author\/lordneo\/#Person","name":"lordneo","url":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki10\/author\/lordneo\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9645c498c9701c88b89b8537773dd7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9645c498c9701c88b89b8537773dd7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Enzyklop\u00e4die","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/wiki4\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/download.jpg","url":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/wiki4\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/download.jpg","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Special:CentralAutoLogin\/start?type=1x1","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Special:CentralAutoLogin\/start?type=1x1","height":"1","width":"1"},"url":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki10\/italian-heritage-festival-wikipedia\/","wordCount":908,"articleBody":"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival takes place each year on Labor Day weekend in Clarksburg, West Virginia.  The festival was started in 1979 with each successive year, the little Festival has grown, and now is rated one of the “Top 100 Events in North America” including Canada and Mexico. Each year, this 3-day street festival brings over 100,000 visitors to Clarksburg.[1]Table of ContentsHistory[edit]Festival[edit]Honors and awards[edit]References[edit]History[edit]The West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival began in 1979 as a celebration of the Italian-American heritage of a large percentage of the population in north-central West Virginia.  In its first year the festival saw great success and over 80,000 visitors.  That year, the parade included baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio as marshal, who shared his car with then Governor Rockefeller and Senator Jennings Randolph.  The main event of that first festival was a free Jerry Vale concert.[2]The COVID-19 pandemic caused many outdoor events to be cancelled in 2020, though only some will be virtual.Festival[edit]The festival takes place in downtown Clarksburg, each Labor Day weekend. The street blocks in which the festival take place are totally closed to traffic for the weekend. The atmosphere the festival creates is full of pageantry, entertainment, music, and of course a wide array of food and drink.  From the opening ceremonies, when the royal court of Regina Maria (Regina meaning “Queen” and Maria the name of the first queen of Italy), is crowned, to its conclusion with the traditional festival ball the festival is filled with great events including the annual 5k run, WVIHF Golf Tournament, and the annual pasta cook-off.Honors and awards[edit]Each year the Festival pays special tribute to outstanding Americans by making public awards and recognitions. Recipients of these awards have included the following individuals.Outstanding West Virginia Italian-American Award[3]1980 Nicholas T. Camicia1981 Dr. Jay Arena1982 Leo Vecellio1983 Capt. Tom Paul Scott, USN1984 Dr. K. Alvin Merendino1985 Robert DeProspero1986 Lt. Gen. Leonard H. Perroots1987 Michael C. Paterno1988 Joseph Antonini1989 Rear Admiral Thomas Lopez1990 Larry Ciccarelli1991 Brig. Gen. Tom Mancinelli1992 Dr. Thomas Mazzocco1993 Angelo S. Petitto1994 Augustine A. Mazzei, Jr.1995 Joseph L. Tropea1996 Frank A. Oliverio1997 Larry Argiro1998 Joseph F. Fuscaldo1999 Andrew J. Paterno2000 Lucius Cavallero2001 Victor Basile2002 Father Hilarion Cann2003 A. James Manchin2004 Russell Bonasso & Samuel Bonasso2005 Carmine J. Cann2006 Joseph M. Minard2007 Leonard J. “Joe” Trupo & Louis J. “Zeke” TrupoHonorary Italian-American Award[4]1979 Senator Jennings Randolph, John D. Rockefeller, IV1991 Thomas C. Burns1980 James Compton1981 Odus Kincaid1982 Msgr. Benjamin Farrell1983 Frank Maxwell1984 Gov. John D. Rockefeller1985 Gov. Arch A. Moore, Jr.1986 US Senator Robert Byrd1987 John Williams1988 Jon A. McBride1989 Gov. Gaston Caperton1990 Msgr. John O”Reilly1991 Thomas C. Burns1992 Sam Huff1993 Milan Puskar1994 Judge Callie I. Tsapis1995 Robert L. Reynolds1996 Father Charles McCallister1997 Governor Cecil H. Underwood1998 Ed Pastilong1999 Bishop Bernard W. Schmitt2000 Leland Byrd2001 Daniel McCarthy, Circuit Judge (Ret.)2002 Governor Bob Wise2003 I.L. “Ike” Morris2004 Alan Mollohan2005 Dr. Kelley Nelson2006 James. C. Hunt2007 Harry Green, Jr.References[edit]Coordinates: 39\u00b016\u203245\u2033N 80\u00b020\u203220\u2033W\ufeff \/ \ufeff39.27917\u00b0N 80.33889\u00b0W\ufeff \/ 39.27917; -80.33889"},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki10\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Enzyklop\u00e4die"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/wiki.edu.vn\/en\/wiki10\/italian-heritage-festival-wikipedia\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Italian Heritage Festival – Wikipedia"}}]}]