{"id":279844,"date":"2026-09-05T18:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T18:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/279844\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T18:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T18:44:09","slug":"vendors-celebrate-50-years-of-la-festa-italiana-on-courthouse-square-scranton-times-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/279844\/","title":{"rendered":"Vendors celebrate 50 years of La Festa Italiana on Courthouse Square \u2013 Scranton Times-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the last 50 years, a core group of vendors at La Festa Italiana hasn\u2019t measured their success by the bottom line.<\/p>\n

For them, setting up shop at Scranton\u2019s Courthouse Square year after year isn\u2019t about money; it\u2019s about family tradition and an unwavering commitment to the community.<\/p>\n

Dave Rubbico, owner of Popcorn Fantasy, was dumping out kettle corn to be served to customers on Saturday, as he\u2019s been doing since the early \u201990s.<\/p>\n

Rubbico looks back to the event\u2019s beginnings in 1976, when organizers were working hard to make their vision reality.<\/p>\n

Many of those original organizers are now on the event\u2019s committee and are still working hard every year to make it a success.<\/p>\n

Rubbico can do no less.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about working together,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been about working together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Owner<\/p>\n

Owner of Popcorn Fantasy Dave Rubbico, Sr. pours oil for cooking kettle corn during La Festa Italiana in downtown Scranton Friday, September 4, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A sign for La Festa Italiana is displayed on the North Washington St. side of Courthouse Square during the festival in Scranton Friday, September 4, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Owner<\/p>\n

Owner of Popcorn Fantasy Dave Rubbico, Sr. cooks up some kettle corn during La Festa Italiana in downtown Scranton Friday, September 4, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Manager<\/p>\n

Manager of Arcaro and Genell Amanda Krappa cuts pizza during La Festa Italiana in Scranton Friday, September 4, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People gather during La Festa Italiana in downtown Scranton Friday, September 4, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Cannolis<\/p>\n

Cannolis are displayed at Original Scala Pastry during La Festa Italiana in downtown Scranton Friday, September 4, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Owner of Popcorn Fantasy Dave Rubbico, Sr. pours oil for cooking kettle corn during La Festa Italiana in downtown Scranton Friday, September 4, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

In the past, the business has participated in multiple festivals each season to sell not only popcorn, but shaved ice, cotton candy and specialty birch beer\u2014but now he only does La Festa, he said.<\/p>\n

Good food with a side of laughter and joy<\/p>\n

Angelo Genell, of Arcaro & Genell\u2019s, remembers attending the festival not only as a vendor, but as a teenager.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when the event moved to September from October,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had some cold days before that.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Gennell, the festival is a great opportunity to serve steady customers and people from across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe enjoy some diversion from the restaurant and from catering,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a chance to get outside and do something different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genell has seen the festival grow from a small event to one of the area\u2019s most well-attended festivals, drawing people from all over the state and all over the country, he said.<\/p>\n

Amanda Krappa, manager of Arcaro & Genell\u2019s, said the business has been a presence at the event for about 40 years.<\/p>\n

In addition to serving up their signature pizza, homemade gnocchi and tripe, staff enjoy the opportunity to have fun and participate in a sense of community, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe laugh a lot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Krappa is looking forward to the moderate temperatures at this year\u2019s festival, but said it hasn\u2019t always been so.<\/p>\n

Several years ago, temperatures rose into the 90s. Other years have seen heavy rain, thunderstorms and colder temperatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year it will be about 70 degrees with no rain,\u201d she said. \u201cPerfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serving up cannoli for nearly fifty years<\/p>\n

Carmela Scala has been selling Italian delicacies at the festival with her family for 48 years.<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn-based business originally provided their cannoli to another vendor who offered them to festivalgoers.<\/p>\n

But in 1981, when the festival moved from October to Labor Day weekend, the other business was unable to participate. So, Scala\u2019s bakery loaded up their pastries and headed to Scranton for the holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

Scala\u2019s no longer has a brick-and-mortar storefront, but continues to head south for the festival every year.<\/p>\n

The family, including her son Joseph, looks forward to gathering together each year for what is akin to a reunion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like a vacation or a holiday,\u201d Scala said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this now for three generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, some things have changed while others have not. Business remains robust during the festival, though demand has shifted a bit from traditional to trendy options.<\/p>\n

A cappuccino cannoli, for instance, offers a traditional shell filled with coffee-infused sweet cream.<\/p>\n

The sweet treat is a great option for coffee lovers, a first-time customer noted.<\/p>\n

The business also sponsors Monday\u2019s cannoli-eating contest, which returns for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

If one word describes the festival, Scala said that word would be \u201cfamily\u201d\u2014both immediate and community-wide.<\/p>\n

To her, the festival is sweet not only because of the baked goods she offers, but because of the people it brings together from all over.<\/p>\n

To her, the festival is sweet not only because of the baked goods she offers, but because of the people it brings together from all over.<\/p>\n

Many vendors have been participating in the event for decades and plan to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to the 60th festival,\u201d Genell said.<\/p>\n

The festival continues Sunday and concludes on Monday. For information, visit https:\/\/lafestaitaliana.org.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the last 50 years, a core group of vendors at La Festa Italiana hasn\u2019t measured their success…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,803,139,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-279844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}