This year’s festival will feature food vendors, a parade and celebrity guest appearances. The event will begin on Friday, Sept. 19, and continue through the weekend.
The Eastchester-Tuckahoe Columbus Day Committee comprises the Giuseppe Garibaldi Lodge, Sons of Italy and the Eastchester Italian-American Citizens Club, with support and funding coming from the Generoso Pope Foundation.
The festival begins on Sept. 19 with a 6 p.m. Mass, in Italian, at the Assumption Church, followed by the annual procession of St. Pio to Depot Square. The weekend comes full circle at 7 p.m. on Sept. 21 at the church for prayers and benediction.
At the annual Scholarship Dinner, the committee will celebrate Woman of the Year JoAnn Mazzella-Murphy and the Carapella Family, who will receive the Legacy Award.
In addition, the scholarship dinner will honor Julia DeBenedictis, who was named Miss Columbus 2014 and earned a $10,000 scholarship from the Generoso Pope Foundation. The scholarship highlights the Eastchester High School senior's commitment to Italian culture and her academic accomplishments.
“The committee and I find it fitting to honor on a local level these individuals who have given so much to our village,” David Anthony Pope, president and chief executive officer of the foundation funding the event, said in a statement.”
Festival hours will be from 5 to 11 p.m. on Sept. 19 and 20 and from 12 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 21. For tickets for the scholarship dinner, which will be held at the Marina del Rey in the Bronx, call Mario Annunziata at 914-870-2253.
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