Italian Days a grassroots effort
The loss of Butler’s Italian Festival in 2024 didn’t stop Main Street from serving up the tastes of the European nation — it seemed to jump start some business owners to make their own food love letters to Italy.
Italian Days will return to Butler again on Friday evening, Aug. 22, and continue through most of the day Saturday, Aug. 23, and will feature around 70 food and retail vendors. Live entertainment acts will perform throughout the two-day event.
The event is once again organized by a Butler downtown organization, the Sons and Daughters of Italy, with planning coordinated by Charmaine Fetterman. In 2024, the revamp of an Italian event was spearheaded by Totalus and its owners, but the Sons and Daughters of Italy was right there with Totalus in getting it off the ground.
Even though the city lost what was a pretty big draw in the Butler Italian Festival, it’s great to see businesses and downtown people and organizations come together to make something in its likeness, but with extra emphasis on supporting the businesses that are already there.
And with musical artists and other activities planned for this year’s Italian Days, maybe the event will recapture even more of the Italian festival’s spirit this coming weekend.
Fetterman said she is happy to have an Italian event in Butler, because the area has a lot of history and people with Italian backgrounds and they all deserve to be highlighted.
“We were so proud to say that Butler had an Italian festival,” Fetterman said. “To see the people on the street that you don’t normally see — and laughing and clapping and dancing — and the old-timers meeting and catching up. It’s just the vibe I hope we can hit.”
— ET