The National Italian American Foundation is celebrating its 39th anniversary in our nation's capital during Italian American Heritage month this October. This is the final year we will host our internationally famous gala weekend at the Washington Hilton Hotel on Oct. 24 - 26, 2014. In 2015, we will celebrate our 40th anniversary at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
For 39 years, NIAF's Gala Awards have been the staple event of the Italian American calendar, attracting more than 3,000 people throughout the nation and Italy to one of the capital's premier gatherings at the Washington Hilton Hotel. We hope you will join us to relive the wonderful memories you have shared with your NIAF family and to build new ones.
This year you won't want to miss the exciting weekend schedule, including the Second Annual NIAF Casino Night, "The Wildest Comes to Washington," an Italian American party like no other, starring Louis Prima Jr. and The Witnesses. New additions to our Gala Weekend include an Open House at NIAF Headquarters (across the street from the Hilton) on Friday afternoon, a NIAF Thank You Lunch for the whole NIAF Family at NIAF Central, and our first ever Peter F. Secchia Voyage of Discovery Scholarship Recipient and Young Professional Aperitivo on Saturday! These are events created to bring you closer to other NIAF family members and to give you a better sense of the full scope of what we do at NIAF throughout the year. We are also thrilled to screen clips of the upcoming February, 2015 documentary, "The Italian Americans," created by WETA Public Television.
We hope everyone will join us for our third annual NIAF: Ieri, Oggi, Domani Conference; an opportunity for the community to speak directly to NIAF's leadership, hear what we are planning, and tell us what is important to YOU. We encourage each and every one of you to attend this important conference since it is YOUR voice that we need to hear!
As we extend this invitation to you, please know that we have worked hard to evolve our Gala Weekend into a family affair for every Italian American across the country who hopes to be a part of the warmth and familiarity of our shared culture at that special time of the year that is Italian American Heritage Month. While our event continues to evolve to be accessible to more people, we hope that you understand that by coming and being part of what we do, you are not just creating wonderful memories and helping to preserve our proud culture. You are also contributing to the long-term viability of a foundation that must exist long after all of us; a place where future generations of our community can celebrate, interact, and unite with other Italian Americans. Your support is not just about the experience of the weekend, but about bringing our Foundation to a new generation!
We look forward to seeing everyone at a weekend which will surely celebrate our Foundation's incredible history, and help to secure its surely bright future! Learn more at www.niaf.org/gala
