SEA ISLE CITY — Sea Isle City’s 24th Annual Columbus Day Parade and Italian Festival will take place Oct. 11, sponsored by Mayor Leonard Desiderio and his family. Both events will celebrate Sea Isle’s rich Italian heritage while delighting people of all ages with live music and other entertainment.
The Columbus Day Parade will begin at 2:00 p.m. in front of the Sea Isle City Italian American Club on JFK Boulevard (adjacent to the Sea Isle Bridge). The parade will feature the Ocean City High School Marching Band as well as numerous representatives of the Cape May County Sheriff’s Department, including Dodge the Horse, the Law Enforcement Explorers, McGruff the Crime Dog and Eddie the Eagle mascot. The parade will also feature fire engines and other rescue vehicles, eye-catching floats, representatives from local businesses, including First Bank of Sea Isle City, civic organizations, such as Sea Isle’s Italian American Club and the Knights of Columbus Madonna Maria Council, and County and Municipal dignitaries. Parade spectators will also see Sea Isle’s 2014 “Italian Royal Family” and other participants.
The parade will run east along JFK Boulevard, then head north on Landis Avenue before culminating at 63rd Street, where the City’s Italian Festival will be in full swing at KIX-McNutleys.
The Italian Festival, which will take place between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., will have a variety of attractions. Festival-goers will enjoy an Italian Vendors Market, delicious Italian food, a display by The Cento Food Corporation, free raffles, a presentation by the Cape May County Zoo, and plenty of live entertainment, including opera singer Joe Avanzato and other talented performers.
Later in the day, the Italian Festival’s annual Cannoli Eating Contest will delight spectators under the festival’s music tent. As its name suggests, this competition features contestants eating sizable quantities of the popular Italian confection as quickly as possible. In the end, the contender who consumes the most cannolis in the shortest amount of time will win a trophy and be declared “The Primo Cannoli Eating Champion.”
Anyone interested in appearing in Sea Isle City’s 2014 Columbus Day Parade, being a merchandise or food vendor at the Italian Festival or competing in the annual Cannoli Eating Contest can download an application form at www.kixmcnutleys.com. Cannoli Eating contestants can also register on the day of the event during the Italian Festival. For additional information, email kixfestival@gmail.com or phone (609) 263-6341.