Event organiser Nichols Furore with headline act Roy Spagnolo. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Seven legends of Griffith music will jam together on stage for the first time ever at the Griffith Italian Festival on Saturday 27 August.
Accountant to the stars Roy Spagnolo (guitar) will be joined by wine supremos Joe Casella (bass) and Bill Calabria (guitar), as well as Joe Musitano (vocals/acoustic guitar), Angelo Peruzzi (drums), John Peruzzi (keyboard) and Pat Sergi (vocals).
“We’ve all performed in different bands over the years before but this will be the first time the seven of us will get together on the one stage,” Mr Spagnolo said.
“Our new band is called E castagne [The Chestnuts].”
Former Miss Universe Australia Laura Dundovic and Roy Spagnolo will be at the Griffith Italian Festival. Photo: Supplied.
Griffith’s Italian Festival is the brainchild of two 26-year-old third generation Australians – Mr Spagnolo’s accounting protege Nicholas Furore and fencing contractor Patrick Zirilli.
“Patrick and I were at the Melbourne Italian Festival in 2018, and thought ‘wouldn’t it be great to do this in Griffith, where most of the population are of Italian origin’,” Mr Furore said.
The inaugural Griffith festival took place in 2019, featuring food stalls, Italian wine tasting, cooking demonstrations and live music. COVID-19 scuppered the festival in 2020 and 2021, so the duo needed to come up with something special to woo the crowds back this year.
“It’s going to be massive. We can’t believe we were able to secure so many big names,” Mr Furore said.
Event organisers Nicholas Furore and Patrick Zirilli. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Melbourne band Siesta Cartel will return from their tour of Italy to be the top billing musical act while comedian James Liotta will be MC. Former Miss Universe Australia Laura Dundovic, who has jammed on stage with Mr Spagnolo, is also poised to attend. Children under 10 will be admitted free and be able to go on a number of amusement park style rides.
Something new this year will be an Italian history exhibition, which will source memorabilia from Griffith’s Italian museum at Pioneer Park.
“As time goes by, people lose their connection with their heritage, this is a way to re-connect and celebrate our roots,” Mr Zirilli said.
Mr Spagnolo will be turning back the clock to his early 2000s glory days, when his band Fusion performed at weddings and parties all over the district.
“I come out of retirement to do the occasional performance or charity gig. The songs we do are in both English and Italian, we do verses in each language.”
“We’ll be doing songs like L’Italiano, Mariana, Il ragazzo della via Gluck, Luna Mezzo Mare and Sono Bugiarda [I’m a Believer].”
The band E castange at practice. Photo: Supplied.
Mr Spagnolo is now better known as an accountant with high profile celebrity clients, including NRL players Cameron Murray and James Tedesco, the AFL’s Buddy Franklin and TV stars Karl Stefanovic and Cameron Williams.
His protege Mr Furore, who is balancing full-time work with event management in his spare time, said the festival couldn’t take place without the help of a number of sponsors.
“We want to thank Rombola Family Farms, Griffith City Council, Casella Wines, the Visitors Centre and so many others,” Mr Furore said.
The Griffith Italian Festival will be held at Yellow Tail Park in Yoogali from 12 pm on Saturday 27 August. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased on the Event Brite website. The festival is part of a series of events held during the weeklong A Taste of Italy program, which runs from 22 August to 28 August.
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