Ben Apfelbaum

NORTON STREET ITALIAN FESTA

In 1986 the first Norton Street Italian Festa was organised by the Capuchin Priests at St Fiacres Church in Leichhardt who wanted to replicate the religious festas in the old country. So by my reckoning this is the thirty third occasion on which this festival has been held, but I could not see any religious flavour permeating the festa.

On the way to Norton street, I met Emil  who thought that the Norton Street festa was Sydney’s sixth biggest festival, with the largest being the Newtown Festival  at Camperdown.

However, with over 140,000 people estimated to have occupied one kilometre of Norton Street, this street fair would give Newtown a run for its money

The emphasis was on Italian food with loads of pizzas, pastas, cannolis and bombalinos. There was even a performer dressed as a cannoli cohosting a cannoli speed eating contest.

I entered from the northern end of the Festival which had me wandering into Pioneer’s Park. There were a sideshow alley, jumping castle rides as well as a baby animal petting enclosure for the kids. The majority of the park was occupied by Italian car makes such as Fiat, Alfa Romeo  and even an Italian police car. Nearby jazz and world music lovers were catered for with the swinging tones of Marsala and jazz al dente.

As I hit the street proper who should I run into but Sydney’s original Red Hot Momma Maria Venuti, unfortunately still confined to a wheelchair, but thoroughly enjoying the vibrant atmosphere of the Festa.

To break up the procession of stalls at various points in Norton Street there were cooking demonstrations, a female duo singing traditional Italian songs, SBS radio and an appearance by Mitch and Mark from ‘The Block’.

The nearby Leichhardt Bus Museum provided vintage vehicles for people to experience and enjoy.

I estimate that perhaps more than 150,000 attended as many food outlets ran out of supplies fairly early on in the afternoon.  Still, there were various Limoncellos and other Italian wines to keep one going.

If the weather is fine and familial duties do not intercede, I will try and visit the Newtown Festival in a few weeks time and will report back, especially as to size and attendance.

Pics by Ben Apfebaum.

 

 

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Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.