Between the 1950s and 1960s many inhabitants of Solarino, a small village in the province of Syracuse, moved to Mirboo North, in South Gippsland.
The community has brought Italian traditions and customs into the country Victoria for 50 years, but from the 1990s onwards the Italian cultural footprint has been gradually vanishing.
This was until four years ago when a new committee re-launched the Mirboo North Italian Festa, rewarded with the Victorian Multicultural Award for Excellence.
Rosie Romano, coordinator of the Mirboo North Italian Festa, is a third generation Italian and she told us about the origin of the celebration and about Nonna’s Secret Recipe Book, available on the website of the Mirboo North Italian festa committee.









