The New Mexico Italian Film Festival will open with three major attractions on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008. An entire afternoon of Italian music, Italian film, Italian food and Italian wine, will be served up for 650 Festival patrons. The second annual Italian Film Festival is a benefit for the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital.

The 11th Annual CultureFest of Springfield(Ohio) served up music, dancing, food, information and activities from around the globe. At Culture Fest the choices included Mexican, Greek and Italian foods; bluegrass, jazz and Andean music; and African, Indian and Celtic dancers.

The historic Croatian town of Šibenik lies at the estuary of the Krka River across the Adriatic Sea from the Italian city of Pescara. Šibenik is the oldest town exclusively inhabited by Croats in Croatia, who have been there since at least the 9th century. The cuisine combines the seaside and inland.The town hosts a famous cultural summer festival.

Italian cuisine as a national cuisine known today has evolved from centuries of social and political change. Its roots can be traced back to 4th century BC through to the introduction of notable chefs such as Maestro Martino who cooked an elegant refined Italian cuisine. The cuisine significantly changed with discovery of the New World helped shape much of what is known as Italian cuisine today with introduction of items as potatoes, tomatoes, bell pepper and maize, which are all central parts of the cuisine but were not introduced in scale until the 18th century.Ingredients and dishes vary by region. There are many significant regional dishes that have become both national and regional. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated in different variations across the country in the present day. Cheese and wine are also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) (regulated appellation) laws. Coffee, and more specifically espresso has become highly important to the cultural cuisine of Italy.