"...Now That's Italian."

Tonight, Thursday, marks the beginning of the 2007 Brier Hill Italian Fest, which runs until Sunday night. This year is, I believe, the 16th year for the Fest, which features Italian food, Italian music, and loads of other things (including some of the best people-watching opportunities you'll have anywhere in the city).

The Fest takes place right in the heart of the old Brier Hill neighborhood, down the hill from St. Anthony's. The Brier Hill neighborhood was the heart of mill life in Youngstown for years. Although the neighborhood had people from a number of ethnic backgrounds, it was always a predominantly Italian place. This Italian population was the source of much of the Italian-American culture in this area. (Of course, Brier Hill culture is a little different than your run-of-the-mill Italian-American culture. Words like "sangweech" and "manicotts" aren't exactly textbook Italian terms, for example.)

There's not much left of the old neighborhood, but the Fest, which is overseen by a committee of people who mostly grew up in Brier Hill, does a great job of recapturing what it must have felt like back in the neighborhood's glory days. The Fest closes each year on Sunday night with a performance by one of Youngstown's best live acts, Dom Tocco and the Brotherhood. Tocco himself hails from Brier Hill, so his annual performance at the Italian Fest is usually one of his best.

Unfortunately, the Feast of the Assumption up in Cleveland's Little Italy is also going on this weekend so, if Italian festivals are your thing, you'll have to split time between the two. If you're from Youngstown, though, be sure to get down to Brier Hill and experience a little bit of true Italian-Youngstown-American culture. You might even want to pick yourself up a "Youngstown, Ohio: Mobtown, USA" t-shirt from the Trolio's booth.