The annual Festa Italiana, held each August on Festival Way, is eagerly anticipated by Bradfordians — and not by just those of Italian descent! It’s a three-day tradition of great homemade Italian food, games, music, dancing, fireworks and greeting old friends – many of whom return to Bradford expressly for Festa Italiana – as the city joyously celebrates its Italian heritage. 

Although the exact date of the first Italian Festival is disputed – some claim it began as early as 1903 – it is likely that the beginnings of the festival as we know it began in 1907 when the Italian Mutual Aid Society of Lewis Run celebrated the first anniversary of its founding, coinciding with the Feast of the Assumption on Aug. 12.