Italia Unita has celebrated the Italian
Festival in East Boston for the past fourteen (14) years. The board of
directors and festival volunteers work extremely hard to produce the
largest event in East Boston and one of the largest cultural events in
New England.
Through the years Italia Unita has relied on fundraising, corporate
sponsorship, grants and donations. This has been the primary source of
revenue utilized to operate the festival. Due to the current economic
climate locally and nationally, Italia Unita has been unable to secure
financial commitments from corporate sponsors, grant funding and
donations. In addition, the expenses associated with operating the three
(3) day festival have also increased, averaging between $80,000 -
$90,000. Italia Unita also has outstanding financial commitments from
2008 that have not been fulfilled.
July 2009 was to mark the fifteenth (15th) year of the Italian Festival.
However, because of the poor economic climate, declining revenue sources
and rising costs associated with operating the festival, the board of
Italia Unita has decided to postpone the festival this year. It was a
very difficult decision for us to make. As a an entirely volunteer board
the commitment to put together the largest outdoor event in East Boston
is quite admirable and the return of seeing so many people enjoy our
community and Italian entertainment made the effort worthwhile. Looking
back at our humble beginnings and to see how far we have come is
something that we cherish and will use as a catalyst to work harder to
continue this fine tradition that has garnered worldwide recognition.
Last year's festival attracted the Travel Channel to East Boston. They
highlighted the Italia Unita festival as one of Boston's best summertime
events. This is an accomplishment that made all of East Boston very
proud!
Please be assured that Italia Unita remains committed to preserving and
promoting Italian culture in East Boston and the surrounding
communities.
The board of Italia Unita will work diligently to secure funding in
order to celebrate the Italian Festival in July 2010. For now, Italia
Unita will continue to focus on more cultural events and Italian
Language and courses.
Your support is extremely valuable and always appreciated. If you want
to be a part of our membership in Italia Unita, please consider joining
our organization. You may find the information at
www.italiaunita.org. From the bottom of our hearts Italia Unita
would like to say thank you. Without your continued support, Italia
Unita would not exist.
Sincerely,
Italia Unita Board of Directors |
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Updated
04/25/2018 10:27:14 AM -0400
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