Festa Italia returns to Fitchburg for another year of gelato, spaghetti, music and more. The festival began as an annual picnic for the Italian Workmen’s Club, who still host the event that has grown into a community tradition. For the Italian families who have relocated away from tight-knit neighborhoods, festival committee member Tony Bruno says it’s a reunion – and a chance to hand down heritage.

“We still want to maintain the memory,” says Bruno. “We want kids and grandkids of our parents to still have contact and be able to say, ‘This was a good neighborhood. This is why you are the way you are.’ Because we all lived together in one spot.”