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San Rocco

From Beaver County Magazine
STORY by Rick Sebak

It's a party. A carnival with fireworks. It's a big plate of pasta and an Old World procession. Indeed, the San Rocco Festival is all of these things, but it's oh-so-much more. It's marching bands and ample food and drink. It's three days of fun and festivities in Aliquippa.

The festival of San Rocco is a wonderful Beaver County event that has taken place every summer since 1925. This summer, it runs the weekend of Aug. 12-14 and will mark the 80th year of this special tribute to St. Rocco (or St. Roch, as some call him). Many long-time guests of the festival call it one of the best summer celebrations in Western Pennsylvania.

So Who Is St. Rocco?
St. Rocco is the patron saint of Patrica, a small town in central Italy and the home of many immigrants who came here to work in the J&L Steel mills along the Ohio River in the early 20th century. Those Italian workers brought with them this tradition of honoring the 14th-century holy man with music, prayers and a procession. (CLICK HERE to read a biography of the saint.) Most of the immigrant families in Aliquippa lived in planned neighborhoods created by J&L Steel. Italian families often lived in Plan 11, to which most of the current San Rocco Festival organizers can trace their roots.

A Good Italian Festival
Starts With Music
A strolling band entertains from the street in an Aliquippa neighborhood near the festival.

From the beginning, music was a big part of the celebration, and every marching band in the area wanted in. Ethnic social clubs such as the Italian Political Citizens Club of Woodlawn had bands. The Sons of Italy Band from West Aliquippa came for the event. There was a J&L Band. The Musical Political Italian Club put together the famous M.P.I. Band, and strolling groups of musicians often played all night, wandering from house to house, honoring the many families who invited them in for "refreshments."

In 1997, the San Rocco Festa Band was put together with musicians from around the area, and they still provide the musical energy at many of the events today. A small, select combo called the Ballabe Band (most folks pronounce it "B'la Band") also performs traditional folk songs, dances and original compositions, carrying on old traditions spreading the magic of mazurkas, waltzes and polkas.

The Next Generation of Festival Organizers
The celebration changed over the years from an informal street fair to an organized festival with committees, planners and a schedule of events. By the 1970s and '80s, when many of the original founders and organizers had died, the festival's liveliness, too, seemed to fade. So, in the late '80s, a new generation of Italian-Americans got seriously involved and revived the struggling event.

Chiambellis, traditional Italian sweet breads, became a San Rocco tradition generations ago. Here, they are being prepared for present-day festival-goers.

They invited old neighbors who had moved away when the mills closed. They breathed new life into the weekend with music and golf and all sorts of new attractions. It became the place to be during that one weekend. People started planning vacations to Aliquippa in August.

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