They succeeded in the Adriatic clamming town of Goro, and a round-the-clock presidio is being staffed near barracks in the Lombard town of Montichiari.

Parading New York in costume is a popular activity for the group and Lombard is not the first to see the aesthetic potential.

Photographer Amy Lombard has spent the last three years documenting these communities who seek to take this shared passion offline and into the real world.