Historic New Italy Celebrates Anniversary Day 2026

Belissima! The descendants of the New Italy settlers couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate their 145th Anniversary this past Sunday. Blue skies, a nice breeze, plenty of fresh pasta, wine and a cart load of delicious gelato. A record breaking attendance of 240 guests arrived in big family groups and were welcomed by roving accordion player Val performing familiar Italian melodies.

The festivities kicked off with a welcoming speech by New Italy Museum Inc. President Gail Williams, who declared herself "Italian for a day", followed by a blessing by Father Frank.

Then it was time for the Great Italian Trivia Quiz where the families had to divide into teams competing against each other for fame, glory and prizes. It wasn't long before the distraction of the irresistible smells from fresh pasta dishes drew guests to the Amici Team's servery window and lunch was well and truly on. Dessert was covered by the Benilato Authentic Italian Gelato Cart dishing up traditional gelato and Tiramisu.

A truly poignant moment came when the MCee Phil Eckersley paid tribute to a very special guest. Lina Simeoni is celebrating her 100th birthday this year and this sprightly centenarian shows no signs of slowing down, saying she plans to attend many more of these anniversaries.

The always popular salami wheel was spun and the winners collected their delicious, smallgoods with huge grins. All hand made by Fowl Rabbit Artisan Butcher.

The Anniversary Day guests were also offered a sneak-peak tour of the progress made in the soon to be completed Italian Pavilion by Chief Curator Leonie Lane.

All in all, a truly successful day at New Italy! Huge thanks to the dedicated and hard working volunteer team, led by Event Coordinator Anna Lagerstedt, for making all this possible. Living La Dolce Vita!