The Italian Culture
In the Pacific Northwest, the Italian culture is represented by the American Italian Club of Spokane and Cagli-Spokane Sister City Society!
The Italian Culture has been represented in Spokane for the past 50 years! Each year these organizations hold many events, such as the annual Spaghetti night at Mission Park and the Italiano Festival in Liberty Lake. They also participate in the St. Patricks day parade every year!
There are about 7,500 members combined from both organizations! Both the American-Italian Club of Spokane and Cagli-Spokane Sister City Society are open to anyone that holds an interest in learning more about the culture or just loves all things Italian!
During holiday celebrations, members of the organizations will dress in very elegant clothing or clothing from the Renaissance!
Holiday Traditions
The Italian culture has many different holiday traditions! Some of the most celebrated events are Feast of The Assumption, Christmas Eve, and Celebration of The Epiphany!
One tradition is that on Christmas Eve only seafood is served with pasta! Christmas day is when the main food celebration occurs. On these holidays, there traditionally can be more than 21 dishes served! Some popular dishes include ravioli, tortellini, and brodo!
The displayed here was taken at the annual Fiesta Italiana held every year at Mission Park in Spokane!
Along with a celebration of different traditional recipes, there are many games played during the winter holidays. The Italian culture usually plays many different card games and drinking games! The drinking games are played while drinking Prosecco, as it is the Champagne of Italy!
One holiday decoration that is put up to represent the Italian culture during the winter holidays is the Christmas creche! This is a nativity scene and is usually put up in the main Piazza in the homes of many Italian families.
Another winter holiday tradition found in the homes of Italy, are recipes passed down in the family, usually delicious recipes that they enjoy cooking during the holidays!
The picture to here are members of the American-Italian club after playing traditional winter holiday games!
Cagli-Spokane Sister City Society!
The Cagli-Spokane Sister City Society has formed a sister city between Spokane and Cagli to help increase the diversity and uniqueness of Spokane! Students of Gonzaga University and members of the American-Italian Club get the opportunity to visit Cagli during the summer! Here is a photo from one of their trips.
Learn More About the Culture and Traditions of Italy
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