Sausage and salami success

THE Cairns Italian Festival wrapped up with a bang over the weekend in Mareeba, as the Sausage and Salami Festa drew a crowd of hundreds from all corners of Australia.

WINNERS: Judge Luigi Borgo, Callem Musmarra, judge Giovanni Palmieri, Nancy Barbieri, Dave Cann and Frank Barbieri.

The event saw two-time champion partnership Frank Musmarra and Frank Barbieri Family Salami walk away with the top honours for his renowned sausages and salami.

Adding a special touch to the celebrations, organiser Steve Cordenos introduced the Salami and Sausage competition as a way to infuse the Cairns Italian Festival spirit into his hometown.

“For me personally, the Salami and Sausage festival was my idea that I bought to the table and last year, I was quite sick and couldn’t come,” he said.

“So being in my hometown with hundreds of people from the community supporting our event, it is pretty special.

“It is all about getting small towns involved and it’s fantastic to see that small community support.”

Frank Musmarra and Frank Barbieri Family Salami took out the In the Northern Style salami category, while Frank Falvo claimed victory in the Southern Style category.

Anna Falvo took the crown in the No Style salami category, and the Salsicia Style winner was David Moreno.

Anna Avoilio took out the Cullatello category whilst Cristian Biasiolo took out the Cappocolo category.

Touted as "authentically Italian," the Cairns Italian Festival attracted thousands of people from the region and beyond to a host of varied events held over 15 days.

Mr Cordenos expressed his pride in the effort that went into the event, with a fresh layout and the inclusion of new areas like Innisfail.

“As I said in one of my speeches, we have the rainforests and the reef and now we have the Cairns Italian festival,” he said.

“Over the entire festival, I think we entertained up to 30,000 people and I know we have the potential go up to 50 or 60 thousand.

“As president, I would also like to sincerely thank our committee for all the work they did because without them, we wouldn’t of been able to bring these events to our region.”