Crushing competition brings fruity frenzy to Buffalo’s Italian Festival

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Tre, Due, Uno, — stomp! How else to kick off a grape-stomping competition at Buffalo’s Galbani Italian Heritage Festival than with a countdown in Italian?

And who better to lead and emcee the competition than Peter LoJacono, who just retired after teaching Italian and Spanish for 36 years at Hutch Tech High School?

Sunday afternoon, near the corner of Delaware and Hertel, LoJacono had the onlookers crowding closer together than you would expect on a near 90-degree day, just to get a better look at the festival-goers who shucked off their sandals and plunged their feet into a watery bath populated by red grapes.

Most of them had never seen a grape stomped by bare human feet before, beyond the occasional fruit that dropped and rolled on the kitchen floor, or the hilarious "I Love Lucy" episode that still pops up on the airwaves.

The rare spectacle in Buffalo lasted just one minute: sixty seconds for contestants to squeeze the juice — and the stuffing — out of their allotment of grapes.

When LoJacono gave the command, they ceased stomping and stepped into a tub of water to cleanse the fruity remnants from their toes.

LoJacono pledged a "scientific" measurement to the crowd with a smile. He pulled his trusty tape measure from a pocket and called out the depth of juice in each tub.

Most contestants came in at 1 3/4 inches of juice, one squeezed out two inches, and the winner of the grape-stomping gold medal with 2 1/2 inches of juice was 22-year-old Austen Fiannaca!

Fiannaca came by his grape-stomping prowess honestly. He has family ties in Sicily, he’s a former student of Italian with LoJacono, and he has competed in grape-stomping events before.

His advice for others who aspire to wear the coveted gold medal? It’s pretty simple, according to Fiannuca: “Just keep trying!”