An annual rite of summer in the Valley kicks off Thursday with the opening of Holy Rosary Church’s 52nd annual Italian festival. “Festa 2019” opens at 5 p.m. today until 10 p.m. and runs through Saturday on the grounds of the church, at 10 Father Salemi Dr. Admission is free.

The festival, which celebrates all things Italian, is a popular Valley tradition, mostly for the freshly prepared Italian food, homemade with love by parishioners in the church kitchen. The menu includes everything from festival favorite pizza fritta (fried dough) a tradition here for five decades, deep fried and topped with homemade tomato sauce and grated cheese (or confectioner’s sugar) to fried calamari and porchetta.