What a great party!!
If you weren't able to attend this year's Festival Internazionale you may have missed the best event of the year. This year's event certainly had all the energy of a great party, and to top it all off we were able to raise a lot of money!
The entertainment this year was vibrant and extremely dynamic (and so was President Paul in his Samurai costume). The always-popular mariachi band started things off in grand fashion, and they were joined throughout the night by Chinese dragon dancers, belly dancers and African drummers and dancers. The Jerome Washington Express even joined us for a few songs after the auction. It seemed they were cut a little short by our time constraints, but that certainly didn't stop anyone as the party contiued long after it was officially over.
The auction this year was a great sucess. While there are a few outstanding items left to be accounted for it looks as though we were able to raise over $40,000 (net)!!! Over $11,000 was raised directly for polio vaccinations alone!
This was the third Festival Internazionale, and by most accounts it was the best one yet. Not only were we able to raise a lot of money as well as have a high-energy, fun-filled evening, it was great to see so many Rotarians come together to make the event a success both in the giving of time during the event's creation and the donation of items for the auction. This truely was a team effort and something we can all be proud of!