Back in March, the Warren Italian-American Heritage Festival board decided to go forward this year’s event. President Carole Ficeti said, “We decided let’s go ahead and plan for it. That’ll be easier than waiting and planning at the last minute. That’s turned out to be the right choice. If we’d waited, we would have been a little behind on stuff.”

After a one-year absence due to COVID-19, the festival returns Thursday through Sunday at Courthouse Square in downtown Warren with nearly all of its attractions intact. The most notable omissions will be two things that bookend the festival — the kick-off breakfast and the closing fireworks display.