The City of Philadelphia Celebrates the Italian Cultural Month

Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love, and not just in the etymologic sense. As hoped by William Penn, the founder of this amazing city, Philadelphia has been one of the most welcoming cities in the United Sates. The big and active foreign communities the city is currently hosting affirm this on a day by day basis. In between these communities, the Italian – American community in Philadelphia has a lot of relevance and influence in the whole city. In addition, there is a lot of Italian Heritage in the city of Philadelphia. For example, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of the most important museums of Philadelphia, has a huge exposition of Italian Renaissance, and little glimpses of Italy can also be seen in the architectural structure of the Independence Hall, and all around Passyunk areas.

Furthermore, there are many Italian enterprises in Philadelphia and all around Pennsylvania, including also the famous company Gusta. Due to these strong economic relations, Italy is the only European country to have a Consulate General in Pennsylvania.

To celebrate and honor this relationship between the two countries, the Italian Consulate General and the city of Philadelphia celebrates every year the Italian Cultural Month, a festival named “Ciao Philadelphia” promoting and celebrating the Italian tradition and culture in the city of Philadelphia. The festival takes place in the month of October in order to remembering Cristopher Columbus, the Italian explorer who discovered the Americas in 1492. In fact, on October the 10th the United States of America celebrates the Columbus Day.  After the success obtained in the 2014 edition, the City Major of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, was proud to announce the second Mayoral Proclamation of the Italian Cultural Month in Philadelphia.

During the festival, a wide variety of at least 60 public events dedicated to the promotion of Italian culture and tradition will take place in the most important cultural institutions of Philadelphia such as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Arts and famous academic institutions such as Drexel University of the University of Pennsylvania. Thanks to the efforts made by the Italian Consul General of Italy Andrea Canepari, all these institutions have started many partnerships with the Consulate General of Italy in Philadelphia which has resulted in other projects.