The salami festival is always a hit and sold out quickly this year. Photo: Supplied.
An annual salami festival in Griffith has sold out, but there’ll be plenty of other opportunities to sample the food, wine and culture of the town’s large Italian community during the last week of August.
A Taste of Italy will return in 2025, with the Griffith Tourism Team announcing a program for a series of events that will be held between Monday 25 and and Sunday 31 August that celebrates the heritage of the town’s largest ethnic group.
The flagship event is the Festa del Salsicce e Salami, a competition to find the best homemade salami in Griffith. Contestants are judged by a panel of experts and winners are announced during a long lunch held on the last Sunday in August.
The event often attracts celebrities such as TV personalities Richard Wilkins and John Mangos. This year, all tickets were sold out more than five weeks in advance.
Griffith Council Tourism manager Mirella Guidolin said there were still 20 other events during the week in which you could still get involved, urging people to prebook tickets so they didn’t miss out. This includes cooking workshops, a market, lunches, live music, wine tasting sessions and a sidewalk sale of Italian products.
“Griffith’s Italian connection is celebrated every day through its incredible food and wine scene, warm hospitality and deep-rooted traditions,” she said.
“During A Taste of Italy Griffith, everything comes together in a vibrant celebration that resonates throughout Griffith.”
Masterchef Zecca’s Ben Di Rosa will show you how to make pasta. Photo: Supplied.
From 3 to 7 pm on Thursday 28 August, Kooyoo Street will resemble a Naples sidewalk with ‘Makers in the Piazza’, where vendors will offer fresh Italian produce at market stalls.
On Friday, Zecca Handmade Italian Restaurant chef Ben Di Rosa will teach participants how to make hand-rolled pasta at his eatery between 11 am and 2 pm. After the demonstration, you’ll get to sit down and enjoy a lunch of what you’ve helped make, paired with a glass of wine.
On Saturday, there’ll be a sidewalk sale along Banna Avenue from 9 am to 2 pm. There’ll also be a salami judging competition at the Yoogali Club, an Italian meats and breads tasting event at Yarra Wines and a lunch with live Italian music at Calabria Wines.
Italian settlers have moved to Australia since the 1880s. Most of the early immigrants in Griffith were from the Veneto region. During the 1930s, Italians from Calabria, Sicily and other regions settled in growing numbers, with many achieving success in farming and business. Around one quarter of the Griffith population have Italian ancestry.
Programs for A Taste of Italy are available from the Griffith Tourism Hub and local operators or you can visit the A Taste of Italy website for a full list of events and to prebook your tickets.
