Cup buildup kicks off with Italian festival

It is exactly one year until the start of the 2011 Rugby World Cup and Aldo Miccio kicked things off today with his announcement that Nelson will be hosting an Italian festival.

This afternoon Nelson City Council is due to announce the name for its rugby festival and its brand and flagship events at a launch attended by diplomats from Russia, Italy and the United States.

Mr Miccio, the council's Rugby World Cup Steering Group chairman, said this morning the Italian festival could attract thousands of people and may become an annual event.

Nelson is hosting the Italian team during the Rugby World Cup.

The festival is being organised and run by Antonio Cacace who founded La Bella Italia restaurant in Petone and runs the capital's annual Italian festival, Mr Miccio said.

"It's a private venture – they're generally the ones that last and don't cost the ratepayers anything."

Mr Miccio said he met Mr Cacace a few weeks ago in Wellington where the idea started to take shape: "It's fantastic that someone from outside the region, someone as passionate as Antonio, has shown an interest in brainstorming the opportunities we have to celebrate our own Italian story."

Mr Miccio said the festival would involve local restaurants turning Italian, an Italian film festival and various other Italian events being staged.

"It would be important to talk to local businesses about the exact timing for an annual event as this could be huge for us, considering the North Island's festival in Wellington attracts between 8000 and 10,000 every year.

"If we can build a festival anything like Wellington's, then it will be a fantastic economic boost to the region in the shoulder or off-season."

Mr Cacace said he had always viewed Nelson as the Italian capital of the South Island, as Wellington is for the North Island.

"There are many ways Nelson can make the Italian rugby team feel at home in New Zealand, either through an Italian festival like our Wellington festival, or theming restaurants such as the Rutherford Hotel's Oceana Restaurant Italian  food, decor, music and all."

- © Fairfax NZ News