Rhode Island is celebrating Columbus Day with a weekend of parades, festivals and cultural events. Providence's Federal Hill neighborhood will host a Columbus Day festival running Saturday through Monday. The annual Columbus Day Parade happens Sunday morning. Missing from the parade this year will be the Rhode Island National Guard, which was forced to skip the festivities because of the federal government shutdown.

Westerly will also hold a parade on Sunday. Rhode Island has one of the highest percentages of Italian-American residents of any state.

Source: http://www.therepublic.com