Published: December 12, 2008 12:33 am      

‘A lot of preparation’

Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival opportunity for ‘great time’

FAIRMONT — This week, Main Street Fairmont has been busy finishing preparations for the third annual Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival on Saturday.

The organization has been grocery shopping for ingredients and gathering recipes for the cooking school, as well as working with the city to get the streets cleaned, banners hung and lights put up. Main Street also decorated the old fire station with Christmas trees and wrapped packages. Today, the heavy equipment will be brought in for the festival.

“It does take a lot of preparation,” Vera Sansalone, executive director of Main Street Fairmont, said.

The event is Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Activities will take place along Monroe Street in Fairmont throughout the day.

The festival, started in 2006, was created based on Robert Tinnell’s graphic novel — called “Feast of the Seven Fishes” — and the Italian practice of preparing various seafood courses for Christmas Eve.

The goal of the event is to have authentic Italian cooking and preserve traditional recipes in an intimate, street fair atmosphere. The festival focuses on food and music.

Sansalone said the Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival will begin at 11 a.m. with an opening ceremony, which will include the singing of the national anthem and welcoming remarks from local officials. A group of 28 vendors will line the street, with food and gift items for sale.

Five Guys Named Moe from Pittsburgh, Pa., and Bel Duetto from Youngstown, Ohio, are the two main musical acts. In addition, the entertainment will include accordion players Ott Meale and Sam Manno, the West Virginia Italian Heritage Dancers, and String of Pearls senior tap dancing group.

A popular portion of the event is the “Festival Cucina” (or festival kitchen), a cooking demonstration and sharing of food that will take place from 1-2:30 p.m. in the fire station. Two new activities this year are a homemade wine tasting contest and an Italian cookie contest, which will be judged at 3:30 p.m.

The day concludes with the Fairmont Christmas Parade through downtown, starting at 5:30 p.m., and a Catholic Mass from 7-8 p.m.

Sansalone said the attendance goal for this year is 4,500 to 5,000 people. The event is an opportunity for people to spend time with friends and family and celebrate a tradition of Italian culture, she said.

“We hope that everyone comes and has a great time,” Sansalone said. “It’s all about promoting the city and bringing people into downtown. We want to be able to celebrate the holiday without all the commercialism.”

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.