Festa: Hamilton

By the late 1960s, people living in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada with a direct connection to Racalmuto, Sicily, outnumbered the total population of Racalmuto. Since 1988, The Fratellanza Racalmutese Club of Hamilton have celebrated Festa Maria SS. Del Monte, mirroring the festival held annually in Racalmuto for over 500 years. Filmed over three days in June 2018, filmmaker Terrance Odette, with a camera, microphone and life-long fascination for culturally significant parades and ceremonies, captures a people's commitment to community, rain or shine. Through food, play, and religious ceremony the film celebrates the value of cultural performance within the fabric of Canada's multiculturalism.