Italian Celebration Week

Events take place throughout the week at various locations in downtown Salt Lake City. But the big day is Saturday, with festivities scheduled from morning to evening.

You be the judge of the Spaghetti Sauces Cook-Off. Cooking begins any time after 8 a.m. Saturday. Sample the results between 2 and 4 p.m. on the patio of Caputo's Market and Deli, 308 W. 300 South. The cost is $3 for adults and $2 for children.

The Italian Cultural Street Fair will be from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at 300 S. 400 West. Live entertainment will include music, dancers, street entertainers; Italian food booths; a wine and cheese tasting tent featuring imported Italian beer; art and craft booths; displays of Italian cars and motor scooters. A bocce-ball tournament will be in Pioneer Park. Pinocchio Land with activities for children will be at the south end of Rio Grande Street. At 5 p.m. on the main stage, Mayor Rocky Anderson will present the banner from Torino, Italy, that was given to Salt Lake City at the 2002 Olympics, to Salt Lake's Italian Center.

Information: 979-1997

This year the Utah State Historical Society, in the Rio Grande Depot, will open its doors to festivalgoers. There will be displays on Italian family history — including census records, obituaries, newspaper clippings and archival photos. Genealogists and librarians will be on hand to help you trace your family's roots.

There will also be speakers:

1 p.m.: Frank Tremea on his Weber County Italian heritage

2 p.m.: Margaret Besso on Carbon County Italians

3 p.m.: Dominick Motta on Salt Lake County Italians

4 p.m.: Michael Homer and James Toronto on Italian Mormon settlers

5 p.m.: Stefania Melis Orme, director of the Italian Cultural Center of Utah, on new-to-Utah Italians