Learn culinary secrets from the masters at the "Great Italian Chefs" cooking demonstrations outdoors in the piazza featuring a nationally-known Celebrity Chef and local chefs from Seattle's best Italian restaurants.

Celebrity Chef for Festa Italiana 2009 is famous vegan author and chef Christina Pirello. For ten years now, Christina has appeared on Public Television on Christina Cooks! seen locally on KCTS Channel Nine. She is also an instructor at Drexel University and conducts seminars nationwide, making her one of the country's most popular celebrity chefs. She also also edits the magazine, "Christina Cooks" and runs the web site christinacooks.com.

Christina's cooking demo is scheduled for 3 PM, Saturday, September 26th.

"Cuoco di Ferro" Cooking Contest! As a special added-attraction, at 3 PM on Sunday, Christina will host the final round of competition of a great new feature at the Italian Festival: the Cuoco di Ferro ("Iron Chef" in Italian) Cooking Contest. Three finalists from all over the country will be competing to win an all-expense paid culinary tour of Tuscany with Christina as their guide. Sponsored by Christina Cooks! and Ostrom's Mushrooms.

Update! The winner of the Cooking Contest was Seattle resident Dr. Barbara Kreemer. Recipes from all three finalists in 2009. For the recipes from all "Great Italian Chefs" of 2009, click here...

Nick's Back! At 2 PM on Sunday, the Cooking Contest will be preceded by Chef Nick Stellino whose engaging personality and expertise make Nick Stellino's Family Kitchen one of Public Television's most popular cooking series. Recently featured in the famous movie "Twilight," Nick was the first Celebrity Chef to appear on the "Great Italian Chefs" Cooking Stage back in 1996. Since then we have featured such culinary stars as Mario Batali, Giuliano Bugialli, Biba Caggiano, Michael Chiarello, Rocco DiSpirito, Mary Ann Esposito, Michael Lomonaco and Michol Negrin. Nick's appearance this year is sponsored by C&H Sugar. Click here for his bio.

The Dick Contino Show and "Accordion-Palooza"

Legendary accordionist Dick Contino and his band will headline a free all-ages concert in the Fisher Pavilion, Saturday night at 7 PM. Contino, who stars in main showrooms from Las Vegas to Atlantic City and headlines many fairs and festivals throughout the country, has become known as the "World's Greatest Accordionist" and has played virtually every TV variety show in history - 48 times on the Ed Sullivan Show alone! Contino is best known for his million sellers such as "Lady of Spain, "Granada" and "Tico Tico," but is equally at home with traditional Italian material. Famous for his distinctive playing technique, the "bellow shake," and able to captivate an audience with his charm, great looks and technical virtuosity, Dick Contino is nothing short of amazing.

Opening the show will be a plethora of local accordionists, each featuring their specialty numbers. Someone once said "the Germans invented the accordion but the Italians perfected the art of playing it" and this is a chance to see that put to the test. "Accordion-Palooza" - don't miss it!