Los Angeles’ beloved LA Italian Festival was called off at the last minute after founder Joey Sorice died unexpectedly just one day before the event’s eighth edition.
Sorice, the festival’s CEO and a comedian, suffered a heart attack at his home Saturday morning, organizers said.
The festival had been scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 4, at the famous intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.
With the cancellation coming so late, one member of the organizing team turned to Instagram to ask supporters to spread the word at the venue in case attendees arrived unaware that the event had been called off.
The team member explained that food vendors had been contacted and cancelled, but said they could not locate the information Sorice had kept for the merchandise vendors.
The Little Italy Podcast also shared its condolences after learning the news while preparing a story about the festival. “We were just preparing a piece about tomorrow’s festival when we heard this sad news,” the podcast wrote. “May his family find peace, and may his legacy live on in further years at the festival he so loved.”
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Still, the sudden cancellation left some prospective festivalgoers wondering whether the celebration could have continued as a tribute to its founder.
“Wouldn’t it make sense to hold the event in his honor?” Caitlin Haurie wrote in an Instagram comment.
Sorice was also known for his work alongside comedian Jimmy as part of the duo Jimmy and Joey. Their influence on the comedy scene was recognized with a permanent place on the walls of The Comedy Store.
The comedy pair later auditioned for the 10th season of America’s Got Talent.
His death prompted an outpouring of grief from Los Angeles’ entertainment and comedy communities. Fellow comedian Ron Swallow remembered Sorice as an “interesting guy,” adding that “the world will be a little less jolly and hopeful without him.”
“We have done some of the craziest gigs and I watched his duo act crush in rooms that made no sense for it to crush in,” Swallow wrote on social media. “I’m sad that I’ll never get a call asking me to do some wild ass project with him.”
