Some of the best things about summer are all the festivals that occur up and down New Jersey's coastline. There's food truck festivals, seafood festivals, (there used to be a LobsterFest - more on that here) and beer festivals. In North Wildwood, this weekend it's all about the Italian-American Festival. For a couple of blocks in the Cape May County shore town, food, vendors, and music fill the air, making visitors feel as if they are in Italy itself.

Of course, you do not have to be Italian to go, but a large majority of Wildwood residents (and visitors) are. About 24 percent of all residents in the four Wildwood towns boast an Italian heritage — bested only by the Irish at 30 percent, according to Census data. The festival, which is run by Knights of Columbus #2572, is an admission-free party. Held between 2nd Avenue and Olde New Jersey Avenues, the street is blocked off and gives you the feeling of being in an open-air Italian market.