Italian Street Festival returns to Indy with food, Italian culture, and Catholic services

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After a twelvemonth off, Holy Rosary Italian Street Festival is returning to Indianapolis.

As successful erstwhile years the lawsuit is escaped and afloat of food, unrecorded music, Italian American taste heritage, and Catholic services and celebrations. It’s astatine the Holy Rosary Catholic Church (520 Stevens Street), down Stevens Street, and successful adjacent Lacy Park. The lawsuit runs Saturday and Sunday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

New to the festival is simply a 2nd signifier of euphony including determination acts from Nashville, Detroit and St Louis, according to lawsuit organizer. Headliner the Woomblies volition entertain crowds Friday evening. Saturday’s line-up includes Heartstone Crossing and the School of Rock House Band. Fans of Caruso and Frank Sinatra volition besides beryllium entertained arsenic classical Italian euphony favorites are played implicit the Festival nationalist code system.

The Italian Street Festival features implicit 25 antithetic Italian meats, pastas, salads and desserts prepared by volunteers successful the expansive kitchens beneath the church. There is dancing, carnival rides and games for free. Twenty-five nutrient stands nether strands of lights see classical meatballs, meatball sandwiches, Italian sausage sandwiches, pizza, bruschetta, fried ravioli, spaghetti and meatballs, cannolis, cheesecake, brownies and tiramisu. There is escaped parking successful the Eli Lilly tons connected East and New Jersey Streets.

There’s much than conscionable calories disposable to enrich your experience. Father Ryan McCarthy volition pb Catholic wide successful English astatine 7 p.m. connected Saturday aft a festive processional down the thoroughfare and to the church. Holy Rosary Catholic Church is astir 100 years old, built by and filled with Italian immigrants to Indiana. Father McCarthy shared the inspiring communicative down the sanction of the religion and its chapel mural down the altar successful the video below. 

Father McCarthy says the dinners utilized to beryllium tiny household spaghetti dinners that grew into religion gatherings and yet overmuch larger assemblage celebrations of Italian heritage. The Italian thoroughfare festival present serves arsenic a fundraiser for the church’s subsistence and humanitarian efforts.

On Friday and Saturday day of the festival, the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana volition big Bocce demonstrations. All are invited to play bocce astatine the courts successful Lacy Park, oregon larn however to play the historical Italian game. The Lacy Park Bocce Courts are located astatine McCarty and Greer Street astatine the southbound extremity of the Church.

Learn much astatine the church’s festival website and Facebook page.