Celebrate Italy’s cultural and culinary influence on America at one of the largest and most beautiful outdoor festivals on Long Island.
Hofstra University will host the 26th Annual Italian Experience Festival on Sunday, Sept. 16, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festival will take place outdoors, rain or shine, on the South Campus.
The Italian Experience Festival is a popular tradition that features a full itinerary of crafts, live entertainment, children’s activities and food.
New this year to the festival’s entertainment lineup are singer and actress Francesca Capetta; Mickela Mallozzi from the Emmy Award-winning program “Bare Feet”; and Italian singer and actor Ciro Acampora.
Singer and actress Capetta recently made her Carnegie Hall debut in the sold-out solo show, “Francesca Capetta Sings Dean Martin,” with the late French-Italian Tony Award-winner Liliane Montevecchi as a special guest. She has been spotlighted in “Broadway’s Rising Stars” at Town Hall; “Francesca Capetta: An Italian In New York” at Feinstein’s/54 Below; “Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic” at the Broadway Liberty Theater; “Sempreverde” at the Queens Theater in the Park; and “Bloody Beginning” at the Weylin Theater.
Earlier this season, she premiered her solo show, “Broadway and Jazz in Italy,” and she will be performing in the leading role of Maria Montessori in the new musical “La Dottoressa” at Lincoln Center.
The daughter of Italian immigrant parents from Minturno (Lazio region), Mallozzi plays classical and jazz piano, violin and flute. She attended New York University for Music Composition, spending two summers abroad with the NYU Florence Program and in Rome as an AIAE Programma Ponte scholarship recipient.
After graduation and a stint working for a music management company, Mallozzi reentered the world of dance and began teaching jazz, tap, ballet and lyrical at the Locust Performing Arts Center in Stamford, CT, as well as The Masala Bhangra Workout® at The Ailey Extension in New York City.
Mallozzi created the Bare Feet project in 2010 to express her fascination for travel, folk dance and music. She created the Bare Feet Blog, documenting her dance adventures around the world. This evolved into the Emmy® Award-winning TV series on public television nationwide, “Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi.”
Returning entertainment at the festival includes emcee Cav. Josephine A. Maietta, president, AIAE, and radio host of “Sabato Italiano” on WRHU-88.7 FM; the Sons of Italy; the Bronx Opera Company; and the Long Island Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra.
Festival admission is $6; $5 for senior citizens; and free for children under 12. Hofstra students, faculty, and staff are admitted free upon presentation of a current Hofstra Card.
For more information about the festival call 516-463-6582 or visit hofstra.edu/festivals.
