La Piazza, a new Italian Music and Food Festival, will premiere April 10-12 at the Santa Barbara Public Library’s Faulkner Gallery and Towbes Plaza.
The free, three-day celebration will highlight Italy’s rich musical heritage, its vibrant culinary traditions, and the spirit of community that connects us all.
The festival opens at 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 10 at the Faulkner Gallery, with a concert titled Amore Italiano: Rome, Cinema, and the Music of the Heart, featuring the talents of Jacopo Giacopuzzi and Alvise Pascucci on piano, Camille Miller on violin, and Tommaso Benciolini on flute.
Projections from iconic Italian movies will accompany the performance.
A second concert will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 11 in the Faulkner Gallery with a program titled Recomposed: Vivaldi, Verdi, and the Art of Reinvention. Musicians Benciolini, Giacopuzzi, Miller, and Pascucci will be joined by violinist Jessica Guideri.
On Sunday, April 12, at 3 p.m., the final concert program will be “Dolce Swing,” featuring Benciolini on flute, Antonio Artese on piano, and the Antonio Artese Trio, which includes Artese, Luca Alemanno, and Mark Ferber.
La Piazza’s food festival runs noon to 4:30 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday at Towbes Plaza. Visitors can enjoy bread and olive oil tastings, fresh pasta stand, and booths offering an array of authentic Italian products.
Highlights will include an Italian Culture Seminar presented by the UCSB Italian Studies program on Saturday from 12:30-2 p.m.; a kids’ corner with materials for making your own pizza-bookmark, sponsored by the Santa Barbara Public Library; a workshop on Magic: The Gathering, with two Italian masters Andrea & Gabriele on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.; and a hands-on pasta-making workshop with Chef Sergio Chierego of Pasta Santina on Sunday at 1 p.m.
La Piazza partners will offer special menu items at their locations across Santa Barbara. Participating vendors include Arnoldi’s, Barbieri Wine Company, Ca’ Dario, Manifattura and Aperitivo, Olio e Limone, and Via Maestra 42.
The festival program and attractions can be found online at https://lapiazza.life/. Printed programs and maps will be available at the Santa Barbara Public Library.
La Piazza is being produced by La Piazza, Inc., an IRS-recognized nonprofit under the direction of Jacopo Giacopuzzi, with the collaboration of the Santa Barbara Public Library. La Piazza is also the producer of the annual Tramonto Festival in Encinitas, California.
For more information, or to be included as a partner in what is likely to become another signature Santa Barbara festival, visit https://lapiazza.life/, or email LaPiazzaSB@gmail.com.