After last year’s stifling heat, planners say Italian Market Festival will be bigger and better

It was so sizzling hot at last year’s Italian Market Festival that the prized plump provolone balls dangling atop the Grease Pole melted. The imported cheese plopped down in gooey strands. Festival organizers scraped it off the broiling blacktop with forks.

“Do you know what the temperature had to be for the provolone to melt?” asked Cookie Ciliberti, gazing up the pole, still amazed.

It’s no joke. Market lifers like Ciliberti, 57, who manages the iconic street’s visitor center, say temps in the high 90s kept some away from the market’s first post-pandemic festival. But with much more pleasant temps forecast for this weekend, and with only some possible drizzle Saturday morning, festival planners are confident crowds will be out for the food and fun.

“We’re setting the table for a really great weekend,” said Tommy Amorim, of Di Bruno Bros. On Thursday, he readied the Montrose Piazza, where festivalgoers can sip wine and snack on Mortadella and pistachio focaccia sandwiches while watching teams of climbers ascend the lard-lathered pole, likely without cheese raining down.

» READ MORE: What to expect at the 2023 Italian Market Festival

Festival producer Michele Gambino is hopeful attendance numbers will return to their pre-pandemic highs, which peaked in 2019. That year, police estimated 75,000 people packed the market.

Festivities will kick off with the annual John Marzano Half Ball Tournament at the Christopher Columbus Charter School. But there’s also a new Cheesesteak Competition, whose field of entrants is determined by public nomination. Plus, a double elimination Cornhole Tournament, open to all.

At the heart of this year’s event is the tribute to a market fixture lost this year, one whose larger-than-life personality seemed to fuel the festival itself: Jerry Blavat, “The Geator with the Heater,” who died in January at age 82.

For years, the fast-talking DJ and impresario had held his doo-wop dance parties on center stage on Washington Avenue, his endless playlist a soulful soundtrack for the festival.

“It’s gonna be a big hole for us,” said Ciliberti. “It’s going to be emotional.”

The Tribute to Jerry Blavat show will feature live performances and a “Geator Gold Dance Party” with DJ Eric Bartello.

“A tribute to the man and the music,” said Gambino.

But along with the heavy hearts is an excitement for the festival’s growing diversity. This year, the street’s Mexican vendors will represent more than a quarter of the 100 merchants at the festival. That’s more than double than 2019, said Gambino, who said she sought the help of a translator from the Welcoming Center to strengthen communication between the merchants.

“I needed everyone to understand this is an open festival,” she said.

At Alma Del Mar on Thursday, owners Alma Romero and her husband, Marcos Tiacopilco, were preparing 1,600 pieces of grilled corn and their signature grilled mango, which Tiacopilco cooks while wearing a cowboy hat the color of the Mexican flag.

“Every year, I am so excited to make something new,” Romero said.

Vendors admitted that their excitement was tinged with a touch of anxiety.

David Brown, owner of Talluto’s Pasta, and the festival’s treasurer, said he hasn’t slept all week. With the heat and the extra staffing and rising food costs, a lot of vendors took a loss last year, he said. Much of the cappelletti with vodka sauce and meatball sandwiches he was selling last year went home with his staff.

“My employees probably ate pasta for an entire week,” he said.

Ciliberti said this year felt special.

“We want people to come down and realize our market is still here, and look at all we have,” she said.

The Italian Market Festival will be held on Ninth Street — from Wharton to Fitzwater Streets — on May 20 and 21 between 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The festival is family-friendly, and most activities are free.

Procession of Saints: The procession take places May 21, starting at 11 a.m., at the historic St. Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi Church. It will pause for the Blessing of the Market at Ninth Street and Washington Avenue, then continue along Ninth to Christian Street, ending at St. Paul Catholic Church around noon.

John Marzano Half Ball Tournament: The tournament takes place May 20 at 10 a.m. in the schoolyard of Christopher Columbus Charter School, on Christian Street between Ninth and 10th Streets. You can register your team on-site. There is a $150 fee, and all profits support the John Marzano Wood Bat Scout League.

Greased Pole Climbing Competition: You can watch the competition — or try the climb yourself — on both days (or until someone gets to the prizes) from 1 to 5 p.m.

Vendors: Expect to find discontinued fabric accessories, handmade cutting boards, hand-lettering art, jewelry, paintings, crafts, and more.

Philly Cheesesteak Contest: You can nominate a restaurant until 11 a.m. May 20. The winner gets a trophy and $5,000 donated to a charity of their choice.

Tribute to Jerry Blavat: The tribute takes place 12:30 p.m. May 20, with music from Carlucci (Billy and the Essentials), ChiChi (Memory Lane), and DJ Eric Bartello.

Ninth Street from Wharton to Fitzwater will be closed for the festival. This includes sections of adjacent streets such as Wharton, Federal, Ellsworth, Washington, Carpenter, Christian, and Catharine.

The Italian Market has two main parking lots. For a $20 daily fee, you can leave your car parked during festival hours at Carpenter Street, between Ninth and 10th Streets, or Washington Avenue, between Ninth and 10th Streets.