A huge crowd took advantage of the weather Friday to attend Bradford’s Festa Italiana. The “Italian Fest”, as it is commonly known, has been a tradition for years, with Italian cuisine and entertainment. The games, music, food, and beer spell a three day party with plenty to do for the entire family. The celebration culminates with a fireworks display at dark on Saturday night.

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Festa Italiana begins Thursday and will continue through Saturday. The traditional Bradford celebration means food and friends, music, memories, and fun.

Check back here over the next few days for more pictures from the Fest!

The weather cooperated Thursday night and the crowd was great. Here are a few shots:

First there was a wrap-up party at the Bank Street Community Garden. The party marks the end of the garden’s design and construction. It was also intended to thank Kara Smith and Rachel Ence, the interns who contributed so much to make the project a reality. See our previous post with video.

After the wrap-up party, Bradford held it’s first celebration of National Night Out in the Family Video parking lot on West Washington Street. The City of Bradford Police Department provided children’s fingerprinting ID kits, safety information, and gave tours of the City’s Emergency Response Team van. The local D.A.R.T. (Diving And Recovery Team) were also there to explain their operations. McKean County CARE for Children was on hand with safety information and SAFE Kids McKean County handouts.

Project Pride Manager Linda Campongiani explains the concept behind Bradford’s National Night Out:

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Inch by inch and row by row, making your garden grow takes patience and dedication. The garden is a great metaphor for many of the projects being carried out by Bradford’s Office of Economic and Community Development (OECD). Ambitious works like the Elm Street Project (Map) take years of planning and effort to show results.

Part of the Elm Street project’s rejuvenation of neighborhoods is the Bank Street Community Garden. Take one dilapidated property that isn’t on the tax roles anyhow, add volunteers, creativity, and dedication, and what can be accomplished?

Thanks to Elm Street Project Manager Lisa Campogiani, Interns Kara & Rachel, and the volunteers who are donating labor and materials, the gardening project is coming together in one neighborhood. Hopefully it is just the first.

Rachel attends Penn State, and Kara attends Cornell. The are both Landscape Architecture majors contributing their skills (and labor) to the garden. Both chose to come to Bradford because of our location in the Allegany National Forest. They have created the Bank Street Community Garden Blog.

Bradford residents were treated to a spectacular fireworks display Friday night as part of W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery’s “Case Collector Appreciation Weekend“.

Read the Bradford Era article about Case Collector Appreciation Weekend here.

The fireworks were staged from Mt. Raub and were visible all over Bradford, including the downtown. Case knife collectors from all over the world are attending this weekend’s festivities. With over 850 pre-registrations, collectors and their families flooding into Bradford were treated to near perfect weather.

If you missed the fireworks, or just want to see them again, the Bradford-Online.com Action Team captured them on video for you. Who are we kidding? From our back porch we didn’t even have to get out of the chair. The display lasted about 12 minutes, this has been shortened to fit YouTube.com’s guidelines.

For other area events check Bradford-Online.com’s Community Calendar.