3 Days Of Food And Fun At Italian Festival, Columbus Day Parade In Seaside Heights

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — Get ready to eat: The Ocean County Columbus Day Parade and Italian Festival will be back in full swing this weekend in Seaside Heights.

The Italian Festival begins Friday and goes through Sunday on Grant Avenue. The parade is set for Sunday afternoon, stepping off at 1 p.m. on the Boulevard.

This year sees the return of participating groups from Italy, the organizing committee said, with Gruppo Sbandieratori e Musici from Emilia Romagna, and Gruppo Folkcloristico Miromagnum from Calabria.

The grand marshal for the parade, which is marking its 31st year, is Gilda Rorro Baldassari. She is the former director of the New Jersey Department of Education’s Office of Equal Educational Opportunity (Civil Rights Office), and the former assistant superintendent for human resources for the Trenton Board of Education. She holds a doctorate in education from Rutgers University.

She has served as chairperson of the New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission and since 2003 has spearheaded its University of Italian Heritage curriculum. For 10 years she served as the honorary vice consul for Italy, in Trenton, and was subsequently appointed Corrispondente Consolare (Consular Correspondent) for 13 years more. She sits on the New Jersey Council of Education, and the national Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations in the United States.

"Dr. Rorro has always been in the forefront to preserve and promote issues of importance to Italians," the committee said.

"Each year we are faced with the difficult task of selecting a person from the many deserving candidates to serve as the ceremonial leader of our parade and Italian festival," John Giavatto, a member of the screening committee. "Although several terrific nominations were submitted, Dr. Cav. Gilda Rorro Baldassari should serve as our Grand Marshal. Her community involvement in education and especially her efforts on behalf of Italian heritage and culture contributed to our decision."

The festival is set to be held from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

The committee also published the entertainment schedule: