Italia vs France Mid-Summer Dance Party

Once again, the boys from ITALIANZ (Emanuele & Alfio) bring another event to the Auckland region!

In collaboration with Auckland Accueil, ITALIANZ presents the Mid-Summer Dance Party. The French band, Club Manouche, will fight through musical notes against Italian DJ, Luca Napolitano, aka Randal - the weapons involved will be guitars, CDs, microphones, drums and a lot of live music.

On the Italian side there will be free ciabatta and focaccia bread offered by Pukeko Bakery and, on the French side, petits fours offered by Panetton Bakery, to feed the crazy dancers during the night.

Last, but not least, the battlefield will be the legendary Khuja Lounge, 536 Queen Street, Auckland. Everyone is very welcome to join the event and remember, entry is from 8pm! Tickets on sale at the door ($10) on Thursday the 20th of August.

See you there.

Italian Soccer Tournament in Auckland

Chamber members, Alfio Leotta and Emanuele Barbieri (ITALIANZ Event Management), are hosting yet another event for members and local Italians in Auckland. This time it's an Italian Table Soccer Tournament, which will consist of teams named after the Serie A squads - Milan, Inter, Juventus, Napoli etc.

The event is being sponsored by Toshi (an Italian brand of alcohol beverages) and Sovrano (an Italian caffe).

The winning team will win $150 to spend at Sovrano, second prize is $75 to be spent at Sovrano and third prize is a bottle of Toshi.

The event will be held over three consecutive Sundays - 12, 19, 26 of July - kick-off at 4pm at Khuja Lounge, 536 Queen Street. Entry fee is $35 - door sales only.

ITALIANTARTICA

The Christchurch Dante Society and the Italian National Programme of Research in Antarctica present the documentary ITALIANTARTICA.

Screened for the first time in New Zealand this documentary is co-produced by the Italian National Programme of Research in Antarctica PNRA and the Italian national broadcaster RAI.

Thursday 25, at 7 pm, Chapel of the Music Centre, 140 Barbadoes St, Christchurch.

Free entry, donations welcome. For information go to www.dante.org.nz/chch

(This event is supported by Cracroft Chase Vineyard www.cracroftchase.co.nz)

Wine Tasting at Maria Pia's

Chamber member, Maria Pia's Trattoria, and the Board are pleased to announce the first wine-tasting event of the year to be held on Tuesday 23rd of June, from 5pm til 7pm, in Wellington.

Paul White (Internationally acclaimed wine journalist and judge) will be your guide throughout the tasting.

Maria Pia's will also be providing a fixed-menu for those who wish to continue on and indulge in some very good Italian food!

There are only 34 spaces available, so please book asap. Tickets are $25 per person and will need to be prepaid before the evening by bank transfer. You can contact Sonja Cabrera at events@iccnz.com to make your booking.

Maria Pia's Trattoria

55 Mulgrave Street, Wellington

Italian Dance Party

Chamber Members Alfio and Emanuele bring you another Italian Dance Party – this time to celebrate La Festa della Repubblica, Italy’s national day.

The fun starts at 8pm on Thursday 28th May at the Khuja Lounge, Queen Street, Auckland with an Italian band and DJ. Entry $10 (includes nibbles).

La Festa della Repubblica

La Festa della Repubblica is celebrated in Italy on the second of June each year.

The day commemorates the institutional referendum held by universal suffrage in 1946, in which the Italian people were called to the polls to decide on the form of government, following the Second World War and the fall of Fascism. With 12,717,923 votes for a republic and 10,719,284 for the monarchy, the male descendants of the House of Savoy were sent into exile.

To commemorate it, a grand military parade is held in central Rome, presided by the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, in the role of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, and other authorities attend too. Prior to the foundation of the Republic, the Italian national day was the first Sunday in June, anniversary of the granting of the Statuto Albertino.

In 1997, on the bicentenary of the adoption of the first Italian tricolour, 7 January was declared Festa del Tricolore; it is intended as a celebration, though not a public holiday.

Embassy Reception for Hon. Adolfo Urso

Italian Ambassador to New Zealand, HE Gioacchino Trizzino graciously hosted a reception in honour of the visit of Deputy Minister for Economic Development Adolfo Urso and delegation to Wellington.

The evening was very successful with attendance by the NZ cabinet minister, Hon. Dr Richard Worth and the Hon. Steven Joyce MP.

ICCNZ board member Antonio Cacace of La Bella Italia kindly provided the excellent catering for the event, which was very well received.

Aperitivo Italiano

On the 1st of April, an Aperitivo Italiano was organized by the Società Dante in collaboration with ICCNZ, ItaliaNZ (Emanuele Barbieri and Alfio Leotta) and Khuja Lounge.

A successful event attended by 65 people. All parties did their best to promote the “Made in Italy” brand along with the screening of an episode from the popular Italian TV Series, “Gli arancini di Montalbano” – an intriguing detective story set in the backdrop of the glorious Sicilian landscape.

Khuja Lounge has also announced that they will be holding an Italian dance party at the Lounge on Thursday, 28th of June. More details to follow.

L to R: DJ Luca Napolitano, Alfio Leotta (organiser), Sergio Guida, the owner of Khuja lounge, ICCNZ member Emanuele Barbieri (organiser)

The Annual Festival Italia

On Sunday, 22nd of March, the ICCNZ attended, as a stall holder, the annual Festival Italia held at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Wellington. Board members Sonja Cabrera, Owen McKernon, Fiona Birkbeck and President, Mario Leonti manned the stall throughout the day and distributed large amounts of brochures and advertising material belonging to Chamber members to the visiting public.

The Festival was attended by huge crowds of Wellingtonians and, this year, ICCNZ also held a Business Card Draw with the prizes being bottles of Nero D’Avola, an excellent red wine from Sicily. The winners were: Sue O’Shea, Ross Fenton, Val Parsons, Julene Hope, Barry Ellis and Estelle Cook. Congratulations!

Annual General Meeting 2009

On Tuesday, 24th of February 2009, the Annual General Meeting of the Chamber was held at La Bella Italia on The Terrace, Wellington.

The Councillors for 2009 were elected as follows: Mario Leonti (President), Liz Maxwell (Co-Vice President), Antonio Cacace (Co-Vice President), Fiona Birkbeck (Treasurer), Sonja Cabrera, Michael Stephens, Owen McKernon, Annette Scullion, Carol Wisker and John Dennett.

Ambassador Trizzino spoke about opportunities for the Chamber to be involved with an upcoming Ministerial visit in April and the stand that the Embassy have taken at the Fieldays in Hamilton, which the Chamber is welcome to have a presence on.

We would like to thank ICCNZ Councillor Antonio Cacace (La Bella Italia) for kindly hosting our AGM at his Café/Ristorante in Wellington.

Sapori d'Italia Dinner

On Wednesday 3rd December 2008, 70 members, along with their guests, friends and supporters of ICCNZ and representatives and guests of the Italian Embassy in Wellington, travelled from near and far to gather at La Bella Italia in Petone for a delightful evening.

Sincere thanks to Cav. Antonio Cacace of La Bella Italia, who generously provided the venue, great staff and a memorable dinner experience. Thanks also to ICCNZ member Sur, for selecting some marvellous Italian wines to accompany the dinner.

H.E. Gioacchino Trizzino, Ambassador to New Zealand kindly accepted our invitation to attend the dinner and be our guest speaker. The dinner was also the occasion to introduce Dott. Luca de Leonardis, International Business Consultant, who has recently arrived from Italy. Luca has worked closely with ICCNZ in recent years and has a number of exciting projects in the pipeline.