The Italian Cultural Centre will spare foodies a trip to the Mediterranean this summer thanks to vendors selling fresh pasta, olive oil and artisan cheeses in the city’s first Il Mercato Italian Night Market.
The idea blossomed a year ago when the planning team at Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre reminisced about trips to the Italy’s renowned markets, known for fresh produce and bustling camaraderie. With a $10,000 kickstart from Vancity Credit Union, the team took a “leap of faith” and organized the first event in Vancouver to blend together Vancouver and Italian farmers’ markets.
Held on the third Friday of every month starting Aug. 15 until Nov. 21, the market at 3075 Slocan St. promises more than 50 vendors for visitors to patronize.
“Given Italy’s great culinary history . . . we were positioned well as a community to offer something to people that we know that they enjoy, that is Italian food and gelato,” said executive director Mauro Vescera. “We did take a little leap of faith here to pull this together. It’s been quite a monumental task.”
Underpinning this initiative is the centre’s push to turn the space into a community hub by raising its profile.
“The goals of the market are to bring people into the Italian Cultural Centre, to learn about the other cultural activities we offer, our upcoming film festival, our music events, our traditional galas and parties, our museum, our Italian language school. We just want to open up the centre to the broader community and become more interactive and more engaged in the cultural activities in the city,” said Vescera.
Since the announcement of the night market in July, Vescera says the centre’s members are relieved the idea has finally come to fruition.
Vendor Orazio Scaldaferri, operator of Orazio’s Olive Oil, says the event will benefit small producers by opening up to people from Metro Vancouver. Moreover, he hopes to advance slow food philosophies of eating organic and unprocessed foods through his stall.
Carmelina Cupo, a longtime volunteer and centre board member, echoed her excitement about seeing vendors interacting with Vancouverites at the first market.
“Obviously, people are quite familiar with farmers’ markets in East Vancouver because there are a few, but having something that has more of a cultural aspect is really going to just propel this to another level,” said Cupo.
The market opens at 3 p.m. The first 50 shoppers at the market will receive a 10 per cent discount on Italian classes at the centre.
After the night market winds down at 7 p.m., the centre will hold a serate in piazza, or “an evening in the square” at 7:30 p.m. inspired by Italian traditions of people gathering in city squares to drink wine and dance.
