The Nutley-Belleville Columbus Day Parade Committee will host one of the largest Italian-American events in northern New Jersey. More than 4,000 spectators are expected, according to organizers. Seventy-plus entries, with more than 1,000 participants, will include marching bands, drill teams, antique automobiles, motorcycles, floats, flags, zeppole stands, and representatives of town organizations. There will be face painting, bounce houses and slides for the children.

The 35th Annual Columbus Day Parade will start at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, at Belleville High School, then proceed north on Franklin Avenue, concluding  at Nutley High School. The reviewing stand will be along Franklin Avenue near Nutley's Park Oval. Former Nutley bank executive, Commissioner, Mayor and Assemblyman John V. Kelly, who died in 2009 at 83, co-founded of the Columbus Day Parade in 1982 along with James Donadia, a Nutley native and Belleville resident who died in 2007 at 95.