Italian Week

Between 2007 and 2017, Italian Week was the Official celebration of the Festa della Repubblica, an initiative of the Consulate of Italy in Queensland and Northern Territory, in collaboration with New Realm Media. The cultural festival was produced by Alessandro Sorbello with strong support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, www.esteri.it Honoring the Italian National Day, in Italian history and as a tribute to the influence of Italian culture in Australia, Italian Week developed a concept in 2009 to create a point of focus for the festival. Known as the ‘Illumination’, this focus point consists of lighting up key structures in the city of Brisbane in the Italian colours of green, white and red for the duration of Italian Week festival. Starting with the Treasury Casino in the heart of Brisbane, historically significant buildings and architectural structures have been illuminated each year since 2009. In 2011, to mark the 150th Anniversary of Italian unification, in addition to the Treasury Casino, Brisbane’s iconic Story Bridge was Illuminated in the ‘Tre Colori’ or the ‘three colours’ as the Italian national flag is known. Located opposite the Treasury Casino and next door to the Gallery of Modern Art, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre stands at the heart of Southbank’s cultural precinct. In a grand display of light and colour, both the Casino and QPAC were ‘Illuminated’ in 2012 as a feature of Italian Week.