Italian Festival ~ Ocean Township, NJ

Ciao tutti!

Yesterday, I attended the Ocean Township Italian Festival in beautiful Monmouth County, New Jersey. This was convenient because I live only about 20 minutes away from Joe Palaia Park, where the festival takes place.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the festival that is enjoyed by many people in Ocean Township and the surrounding communities. The festival is organized by the Italian American Association of the Township of Ocean (IAATO). This organization runs fundraisers throughout the year, but the Italian Festival is their largest - by far. Their membership is over 400 people and they raise funds for community groups, such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Little League. They also raise money for scholarships of students pursuing Italian Studies. Last year, they raised over $60,000 for scholarships and $40,000 for children's sports and community programs. By my observation of the attendance at yesterday’s festival and the beautiful weather we are having today, I’m confident that the IAATO will far exceed last year’s fundraising amount.

The Italian Festival began on August 5 and goes from 4:00 pm until 10:00 tonight. While they had a planned fireworks display on Friday, August 7, unfortunately it did not happen as the festival had to shut down early due to severe weather. Last night, the festival held a dance party. Tonight, the highlight is a free concert featuring a local band called the “Moroccan Sheepherders.” In addition to the proceeds from rides, games and food, the IAATO also offers an hourly 50/50 raffle and a Grand 50/50 that goes off tonight. 

I arrived at the festival yesterday just after it opened at 5:00 pm. Given the traffic to get into the parking lot at the park, it was a good sign that the festival would be well attended. As I walked from the parking area (grass parking within the festival and plenty of people on hand to direct traffic) to the festival, there were many cool rides for kids, food trucks, games and tents. Another nice feature that is emblematic of the small town feel was that the local all-volunteer fire department was giving fire truck rides for a small donation. 

I continued to walk through the entire festival and then recorded what I had seen (you can view that recording on @anthonyontheave FB or IG). 

Following my first recording, I was a bit hungry. Most of the food was done via food trucks, but there was also a fair share of tents with food such as gyros (we love our Greek friends) and crab cakes. There was a sausage and pepper stand featuring the Premio brand of sausage, as well as the typical zeppole, Italian pastries and fried Oreos. Finally, I noticed carnival favorite funnel cakes and Italian Ice. As I was passing the sandwich tents and trucks, one sandwich caught my eye and I had to bypass the sausage and peppers. The festival offered a roasted pork sandwich with broccoli rabe and Asiago cheese. The roll was okay, but again - not the Hoboken standard (see previous blog post). However, the other contents of the sandwich were amazing. Hopefully not too many people passed on this sandwich for the feast favorite sausage and peppers. I posted a video about the pork sandwich and you can also view that on FB or IG. Finally, they had a beer tent for the adults to enjoy. 

From the moment I saw the traffic getting into the festival, I realized that this is an event anticipated by many families in the Ocean Township area. While it did not have the hallmarks of the homemade deserts or religious aspect (at least not that I noticed) of Jersey City, it is by far the most family-friendly Italian festival I have ever attended. The park where it is located is large, accommodating, safe and beautiful. If nothing else, the cause for IAATO’s fundraising efforts is worth the time and money to attend their annual festival. Check out their website above and consider their other fundraising events throughout the year or becoming a sponsor for this worthy organization.

The festival opens at 4:00 pm today, so if you are in the Ocean Township area - go enjoy it!

Looking forward to attending again next year!

Buona Festa!