Springfield's South End neighborhood recently celebrated its first-ever Italian Christmas Market.
The lighting of the Christmas tree kicked off the revival of this Italian cultural tradition in the city.
Mayor Domenic Sarno, Salvatore Circosta, president of the Sons and Daughters of Italy in Springfield , and other officials attended the lighting ceremony.
Father Paolo Bagattini offered a blessing in English and Italian followed by a brief speech with some catchphrases in Italian. Once lit, the Christmas tree illuminated the snow covered grounds of Florian Park in the South End neighborhood.
Accompanied by some Christmas carols performed on a makeshift stage by the tree, families sporting winter coats proceeded towards the heated tents filled with Italian goods offered by the numerous vendors in the market.
A European-themed Christmas Market in Springfield — with vendor booths, vintage decorations and chestnuts literally roasting on an open fire — was inspired by Circosta’s recent visit to Italy, to his grandmother’s native Calabria.
But, according to Circosta that was not the only reason.
"[It] was the success of our Italian Feast we had in July. We brought over 17,000 people into the South End in two days. So we thought, let's take a dive into the deep and try this out in December," he said.
Leanna Danielle, another organizer of the event, said the event was about more than Christmas shopping and food.
“it's important to maintain these traditions because of our children and our children's children. And to make our parents and our forefathers happy and give them a sense of pride that we're maintaining that heritage and all the traditions that they have," she said. "And, you know, if their traditions die, part of our history dies with it. So we definitely don't want that to happen.”
Christmas markets are one of the most recognizable parts of European culture. Bringing that holiday tradition to Springfield is an effort to revive Italian culture in the neighborhood, said Circosta.
“We want to share our culture, and we want to learn from our neighbors to form a greater community here, in Springfield, in the South End," he said. "I think this Christmas market is an example of... what it means not only to be Italian or what it means to be Catholic, but also what it means to be a member in the city of Springfield and to share the gifts, talents, and treasures that we've accumulated as a community with everyone else.”
According to Circosta, the Italian Feast held in July and the Christmas market in December play a crucial role in highlighting the importance of understanding the immigrant experience for Italians who settled in the city's South End and the hardships that came with that.
“Honoring the immigrant story of their travels here, the courage it took is indebted to the benefits that we've received as children and grandchildren of immigrants," said Circosta. “And in a sense, it also teaches us how to treat other immigrants. I think being an Italian American, we can overly simplify it as spaghetti, meatballs and pizza. But most importantly, the sense of hard work and family which isn't unique to Italians, but one thing that we hold as a high virtue."