BENVENUTI!

The San Francisco Italian Athletic Club welcomes the Bay Area to North Beach on Saturday, August 11 for the 2012 Festa Coloniale Italiana - an annual street festival celebrating the rich Italian and Italian-American culture and heritage that has existed in San Francisco for generations. In addition, we are celebrating Ferragosto, a traditional mid-summer Italian holiday.

Along Stockton St., between Union and Filbert sts., there will be continuous live Italian music (Bella Ciao band, San Francisco Accordion Club, opera singers and more), plenty of beer and wine, and the most mouth-watering food this side of Siena including sausage and peppers, pasta, deep-fried calamari, meatball sandwiches and cannoli.

Vendors will be selling Italian-related products. Inside, the club's main ballroom will be transformed into an Italian piazza complete with a fountain. There will be a pizza-toss demonstration as well as an Italian-dancing demonstration by the Rico dancers.

The third-floor Parkview room, which overlooks the festa and Washington Square park, is being transformed into a wine-tasting venue featuring some of the Bay Area’s finest wineries. The Festa Coloniale Italiana is a family-fun event that is free and open to the public.

The festa runs from 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. and for additional information, please contact Tom Torriglia at either 415 440 0800 or at festa@sfiac.com.

The San Francisco Italian Athletic Club, which has been located at 1630 Stockton St. since 1936, may be reached at 415-781-0165 ext.2.