We enjoyed a delicious Italian breakfast followed by a talk by Heddi, the story of her experience in Napoli, filled with Italian and Neapolitan expressions, the story of how the book was written, and a session of Q&A. Book signing followed. 



Click here to find out more about the book in Italian, and here for the English translation.

Namir Battani, pictured on the right,  receiving the first prise from Emanuele Attanasio, Manager of the Italian National Tourist Board - Australia New Zealand.

Grazie a tutti for attending the Dante Musical on Sunday, here are some photos by Gianni Flego, go to Fb to see more. It was a wonderful productions, please put your hands together for our wonderful Cast and Production Team:

Matteo Telara = stage director
Paul Barrett = musical director/ pianist
Luca Manghi = music advisor/language coach
David Kelly = translator
Flavia Berucci = producer
Solo:
Chris McRae = Silvestro
Caroline Everitt = Clementina
Angus Simmons = Toto
Anna Simmons = Consolazione
Chorus:
Warren Shephard (Mayor)
Kathy Meyer (Ortensia)
Nick Anson (Geo)
Michael Goodger (Agostino)
Luca Manghi (Cardinal)
Catherine Morris (town person)
Katherine Findlay (town person)
Anya Christiansen (town person)
Prue Moyle (town person)
Diana Reinhard (town person)
Nobuko Delowe (town person)
Namir Battani (town person)
Fintan McArdle (town person)
Peter Chevin (town person)



We would also like to acknowledge the generous contribution of Società Dante Alighieri in Rome towards the costs of this free performance, all the volunteers who prepared the after party buffet, and our sponsors Emilio's Cheeses for the wonderful formaggio and PeroniNZ for birra.
The event was part of the Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo and Festival Italiano Auckland.

Italianità. Photo by Gianni Flego

Our Dante Festival staff and volunteers had a wonderful evening at Non Solo Pizza in Parnell on Tuesday 8 October. We were joined by representatives of the Waitematā Local Board and Newmarket Business Association, our major commercial sponsor Peroni NZ, and several other sponsors and stakeholders, such as Campari NZ, Ghella, Ecoware, Edit. etc. The Italian Ambassador H.E. Fabrizio Marcelli joined us and made a short speech, together with Festival Director Alessandra Zecchini.

Italian Aperitivo. Photo by Gianni Flego

Thank you to NSP for the wonderful food and service, Peroni, Aperol Spritz, Cinzano Prosecco and San Pellegrino for the drinks, and all our friends who attended. Click here to see more photos.

Speeches. Photo: Glenda Fryer

Admir from Peroni and Luce from Edit. Photo by Gianni Flego

This year is the 500 anniversary since the death of Italian artist and genius Leonardo da Vinci. Many cities in Italy and around the world celebrates this Master with a rich calendar of events, and for Festival Italiano we will have an installation in scale of the central piece of the famous L'Ultima Cena(Last Supper), reproduced with tassels from Peter Greenaway' book Leonardo's Last Supper. The installation, by Arte Mani, will be in Rialto Centrefrom Monday 14 October to Sunday 20
October, the day of Festival Italiano in Newmarket.

And don't forget to visit the Zona Bambini, with more Leonardo inspired art workshops for the children!
These events are free and organised for educational purposes by Festival Italiano and the Dante Alighieri Society of Auckland.

Italy is a musical country 🎼 so check out our entertainment schedule! on our website 🇮🇹 classic and modern, traditional and contemporary, opera and jazz, folk and DJ tunes... plus dances and parades and beautiful Italian spot prizes all throughout the day. 🇮🇹

Festival Italiano is the largest event organised by Società Dante Alighieri Auckland, which is an Italian language school, a society and a registered charity in NZ.

The Dante Auckland is also an important hub for the local Italian community, and all our events are open to Kiwis of all ethnic backgrounds, to connect with us and each other in a friendly environment, and also to learn about Italian culture, language and lifestyle.

At the Dante we organise Festival Italiano every year to offer the city of Auckland a little taste of Italy, and as the event grows every year so grow the number of people involved.

Click here to find out a few interesting facts about the Festival management team, and come to the event to meet the 100 or so other volunteers, Italian and New Zealanders, who make this event happen.

And remember, this is a free community event, so every visitor can also help out our volunteers and staff with a smile and a grazie, and by having a good time!

Rome or Milan, which one would you choose? The eternal city or the Italian city of design? Yes, the Dante School raffle is back and this year’s winner will take home 2 Economy Class return tickets from New Zealand to either Rome or Milan, the choice is yours! Plus there are other wonderful Italian prizes to be won, scroll down to find out more!