SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — An annual Labor Day weekend tradition in northeastern Pennsylvania marked a successful second day Saturday. The 49th annual La Festa Italiana in downtown Scranton is drawing crowds from near and far.
La Festa Italiana is an event people remember for a long time. Many people are making their first festival memories this year.
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For their first Italian festival, three friends showed up together to see what La Festa Italiana has to offer. The first impressions were immediately positive.
"I'm really enjoying it. A lot of the people, they're fun to be around with, they're easy to talk to, I feel like everybody's a lot nice than you would expect in such a populated setting," Claire Phillips of Scranton told 28/22 News.
Phillips and her boyfriend, along with their friend, decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get out of the house and they are not regretting it.
"A lot of people are really happy to show their heritage, you know being Italian. I'm not Italian, but it's still cool to enjoy someone else's culture," said Spencer Smith of Moscow.
"Everyone seems very happy, it seems like a nice place to be. No one seems like they're in a bad mood, they're just trying to hang out with their friends and have a good time," Louis Naro of Mount Pocono commented.
La Festa is renowned for its vendors, filling downtown Scranton with delicious smells of Italian food, but it's something else that the three teenagers had their sights set on.
"Deep-fried Oreos."
"I have to say the deep-fried Oreos."
"Definitely fried Oreos. I think that's probably where we're going to go next."
They managed to get their hands on some, and they certainly approve.
"They're really good."
"They're hot."
Along with the delicious food, the trio values events like La Festa for the environment they create.
"I think that's something really special to me considering how divided the world is right now. I think it's really good to have a place where people can come together like this and enjoy themselves without having to worry about all the bad stuff going on in the world right now. It's easy," Phillips said.
Day three of La Festa Italiana on Sunday runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The fourth and final day is Monday from 11 am until 8 pm.
