Wheeling Italian Festival Origins

In the early 1980s, Mr. Anthony Zambito, Sr. attended the Clarksburg West Virginia Italian festival with Vince Colaianni and Bennie Battistelli.

When the three men returned to Wheeling, they stopped at one of Mr. Zambito’s bars, managed at the time by his son, Anthony Jr., who became a successful businessman, operating Anthony’s Gold and Diamonds in St. Clairsville, Ohio.

As he worked, Anthony Jr. overheard one of the men say, “Why do we have to go all the way to Clarksburg for an Italian Festival? Ain’t we Italian? Let’s have one here.”

Anthony Jr. was skeptical, thinking the older men were just sounding off after having some wine. But the men were determined and all skepticism was soon obliterated.

“In just a few months,” Anthony Jr. said, “I was standing among 70,000 people, in downtown Wheeling, on the street.”

Impressed by the crowd, the quality of entertainment, and the number of food and merchandise vendors, Anthony Jr. turned to a friend and said with a laugh, “Remind me never to doubt those guys again no matter how much wine they drink.”

The Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival is the largest Italian heritage festival in West Virginia, and the 2nd largest in the United States, drawing 175,000 attendees annually.

And it all began with three Wheeling men and a bottle of wine.

Anthony J. Zambito, Sr. remained on the Italian Festival committee and continued to work hard, promoting downtown Wheeling faithfully, until his death.