The St. Nicholas of Tolentine Italian Festival will bring a procession of saint statues, Italian food and a full afternoon of music and dancing to the 1700 block of South 9th Street on Sunday, Oct. 4. The free festival runs from noon-8 p.m. Food and drinks will be sold separately throughout the day.
The celebration starts at noon with a religious procession through the neighborhood. Statues representing Catholic saints will be carried through the streets while the Verdi Band plays traditional Italian marches. The tradition reaches back more than a century. Italian immigrants established St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish in 1912, and the current version of the festival began in 1987 during the parish’s 75th anniversary.
