On Hanover Street in the North End, the heady smells of pasta, pastries and sauces lead many into restaurants and cafes with Italian flags, friendly chatter and music. Tourists pose, take pictures and point at historical sites.  Locals pass them as they go about their daily lives, dodging a crowd of college students waiting outside a restaurant.

Through festivals, music and food, the North End maintains its identity as a “Little Italy.” Rose-Marie Gomez, branding and marketing manager of the North End Music and Performing Arts Center, or NEMPAC, said the North End is a neighborhood that tries very hard to keep its Italian heritage.