In 1849, even before Italy’s official unification, entrepreneurial merchant-class citizens from the northern regions of what would become modern day Italy made their way to San Francisco in hopes of striking gold. Not many were successful.
In 1869, just eight years after Italy’s unification, the La Società Italiana di Mutua Beneficenza, founded in 1858 by a wealthy member of the local Italian colony for community support, hosted San Francisco’s first “Columbus Day” Parade — the inaugural occasion of the annual San Francisco Italian Heritage Parade, the nation’s longest running parade of its kind.
This year, it will celebrate its 154th iteration on October 9, sharing its glory with the famed S.F. Fleet Week.
Italian Heritage Parade is back! Kick-off event at @SFItalianAC launching a series of celebrations of the Italian-American community in San Francisco which will culminate with the Parade next Sunday, October 9th. See you there!@SFItlHeritage @IICSFRANCISCO pic.twitter.com/pwUWEt9zb0
— Italy in SanFran (@ItalyinSanFran) October 2, 2022
In 2018, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day, but the parade to commemorate Italian Heritage has continued, though with less nominal recognition of the explorer.
The festivities were expanded in the early 1900s to include a grand ball, in which two participants are crowned as the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella — in the Depression era, this tradition shifted. The king was ousted, and just the queen and her court were elected to oversee the celebration.
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During the Roaring '20s, a new parade route was carved out, beginning at Civic Center and continuing on to Saints Peter and Paul Church in North Beach. Marching bands, automobiles and more floats were added (the initial parade had just four floats: one for Christopher Columbus, one embodying Spain and America, one for the Santa Maria and one honoring Italian gardeners and growers).
After organization of the parade had changed hands a few times, the jubilee was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1942 and a board of directors was established.
In 1994, the parade’s focus broadened, evolving from a celebration of Christopher Columbus to an all around Italian and Italian-American hoopla. The mutual benefit society that started the celebration is still in existence, now one of the United States' oldest Italian organizations.
This year’s parade will start at 12:30 p.m. at Fisherman’s Wharf, at the intersection of Jefferson and Powell streets. It will progress though North Beach along, appropriately enough, Columbus Avenue and finish in front of Saints Peter and Paul Church.
At the church, another annual tradition, the Saints Peter & Paul Bazaar (in its 104th year), will be raging all weekend — featuring rides, games and the traditional salami toss.
October is Italian History Month, which will bring a smattering of Italian events to the Bay Area before and after the Parade — all with differing amounts of salami, gelato and "royal" presence.
