By Paul Cusimano, Joseph Clothing, Lancaster Twenty and Twenty-One have not been the years we were looking forward to back in Two Thousand and Nineteen. Now, pandemics are not just a modern problem. Back in the Sixth Century AD, much of Europe was affected by the first recognized pandemic. Britain was spared until the mid thirteen hundreds after the arrival of rats to our shores.
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ats and fleas living in close proximity to humans, and the general living conditions of most of the population, resulted in a number of outbreaks of the plague in Britain, during the following Centuries. Fast forward to twenty twenty one. Rats and fleas are not the hosts and spreaders of Coronavirus 19 but we have been living through a global pandemic. Millions of lives lost, financial implications, long term physical and mental health issues have resulted. We now have light at the end of the tunnel. Most of the restrictions that we have lived with for the past eighteen months have been lifted. Travel bans and isolation periods are being faded out. We are able to meet up again, attend parties, celebrations and even sporting events.
The compact beautiful historic City of Lancaster makes the perfect backdrop for an Italian event, after all, Lancaster has a history spanning over two thousand years and was ruled by the Romans for over four hundred years. Most visitors to Lancaster return, overwhelmed by its stunning architecture, culture, ease of access and its huge retail and hospitality offering – seventy percent of which are independently owned businesses. Lancaster has had an Italian community for decades, my father brought us in nineteen sixty seven. Lancaster has four fantastic Italian restaurants, Buccelli’s, Etna, Marco’s and the Spaghetti House, numerous Pizza takeaways and two fantastic wine merchants, Provino and Chapel Street Wines who will have stalls. Family is at the heart of Italian culture, along with religion, food, beauty and of course football. Of these five, four will be present again at this year’s Festa, whereas religion, well we’ll be praying for good weather.
But none of us need a recap, so I will move on and instead tell you about what’s happening in our little City that will definitely lift your spirits. Most haven’t been able to go on holiday during these last two years, so for twenty four hours let holiday come to you, or nearer to you at the very least. ‘Lancaster Festa Italia’ has become the biggest single day Event in Lancaster’s calendar. The brainchild of Bruno Buccelli, 2018 was the inaugural year, repeated in 2019 but sadly it had to be cancelled for 2020. On the 19th of September 2021, Lancaster goes Italian, again.
Above: Bruno (R) & I sat outside Buccelli’s where all the planning for Festa and TLL takes place
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LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE
Above: Renaissance Characters Under The Canopy
www.lancmag.com
