A Scoop-Filled Summer: Caffe Alanno’s 2026 Markets & Shows Recap

What a season it has been for Caffe Alanno!

Our 2026 season has given us so many opportunities to do what we love most: share our handcrafted Sicilian granita with communities throughout Boston and the Greater Boston area. From bustling farmers markets to a celebration of Italian culture, cars, food, and tradition, every event has brought new faces to our stand, reunited us with returning customers, and reminded us why we started Caffe Alanno in the first place.

For Karen and Mike, Caffe Alanno has always been about more than creating a refreshing frozen treat. It’s about celebrating our Italian heritage, using simple ingredients, honoring a handmade process, and sharing something our family loves with other families.

As we look back on some of the highlights of our 2026 farmers market and event season, three experiences have made this summer particularly memorable.

Celebrating Italian Heritage at Tutto Italiano

It would be difficult to imagine a more fitting event for Caffe Alanno than Tutto Italiano at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline.

Tutto Italiano brought together Italian cars and motorcycles, food, music, products, and plenty of Italian pride for a day dedicated to celebrating Italian style and culture.

For Caffe Alanno, participating in an event so deeply rooted in Italian culture was especially meaningful.

Our own story begins with our Italian-American families. The name Caffe Alanno comes from Alanno, a small town in the Abruzzo region of Southern Italy where Mike’s grandfather, Nunzio, lived before migrating to America in 1911. That same year, Karen’s grandfather, Giovanni, left Salina, a small island off northern Sicily, for America.

More than a century later, we’ve found our own way of keeping those connections to Italy alive.

Granita itself is a traditional Sicilian food, so bringing our handmade granita to an event celebrating Italian heritage felt like a natural extension of everything Caffe Alanno represents. Surrounded by beautiful Italian automobiles, food, music, and families enjoying the day together, we had the opportunity to introduce even more people to a tradition that means so much to us.

And, of course, nothing pairs with a summer day spent admiring Italian cars quite like a cold scoop of granita!

Another Season at the Hingham Farmers Market

The Hingham Farmers Market has continued to be an important part of our 2026 season and one of the places where we get to experience the community side of Caffe Alanno firsthand.

Farmers markets have always felt like a natural home for Caffe Alanno. Our philosophy centers around simple ingredients, a farm-focused foundation, and making our granita by hand. We love being surrounded by other small businesses, farms, and producers who care deeply about what they create.

But one of our favorite parts of returning to a market throughout the season is getting to know the people who visit us.

Some customers arrive already knowing exactly which flavor they want, while others walk up to our stand having never heard of granita before. Those moments give us the opportunity to explain what authentic Sicilian granita is, talk about its distinctive texture and ingredients, and share a little bit of our family’s story.

Then comes the best part: watching someone taste it!

Those conversations and connections are a huge part of why we love the farmers market experience. Caffe Alanno may begin in our kitchen, but seeing people gather around our stand and enjoy what we’ve made is when it truly comes to life.

Bringing Caffe Alanno Back to Boston at SoWa Open Market

Of course, we couldn’t talk about our 2026 season without highlighting our time at SoWa Open Market in Boston.

SoWa has become another exciting part of the Caffe Alanno story, giving us the chance to share our handcrafted granita with locals and visitors in the heart of the city.

For two people who grew up in Boston, there is something particularly special about sharing Caffe Alanno in the city that played such an important role in our families’ stories.

Karen and Mike both grew up immersed in Boston’s Italian-American culture. Mike remembers accompanying his mother on weekly grocery trips to the North End and enjoying a frozen lemon treat during their visits. Those childhood experiences, combined with their families’ traditions of gardening and cooking with fresh ingredients, eventually helped inspire what Caffe Alanno would become.

Being at SoWa gives us the opportunity to bring that story to an incredibly diverse Boston audience.

It’s also the perfect environment for discovering something new. Among the artists, makers, local foods, and small businesses, visitors can stop for a scoop of handmade granita and experience a little taste of Sicily in Boston.

From Our Kitchen to Communities Across Greater Boston

One of the greatest joys of growing Caffe Alanno has been seeing how far a family tradition can travel.

What starts with carefully selected ingredients and plenty of patience in our kitchen eventually becomes a scoop shared with someone in Hingham, Boston, Brookline, or another community throughout Massachusetts.

Our granita is still made with the same philosophy that inspired Caffe Alanno from the beginning: keep it simple, keep it authentic, and make it with care.

Every market gives us an opportunity to share that philosophy with someone new.

And every returning customer, conversation at the stand, empty cup, and request for a favorite flavor encourages us to keep going.

The 2026 Season Isn’t Over Yet!

We may be taking a moment to look back at some of our favorite memories from the season so far, but there’s still plenty more granita—and Italian tradition—ahead!

Next up, you can catch Caffe Alanno at two of Boston’s beloved Italian celebrations.

The 2026 Season Isn’t Over Yet!

We still have plenty of granita to share before the season wraps up! Come find Caffe Alanno at these upcoming events:

• San Gennaro Feast, August 21st-23rd, Boston's North End

• Saint Anthony’s Feast, August 27th-31st, Boston's North End

• Boston Pizza Festival, September 19th-20th, Boston's City Hall

View our Calendar for more information.

And if you can’t make it to an event, you can also find Caffe Alanno granita in select stores throughout the Greater Boston area.