Annual Memphis Italian Festival Planned for May 29-31

The Memphis Italian Festival is a community celebration, demonstrating the values of family, faith and fellowship in the Italian-American tradition, for the benefit of the children of Holy Rosary Parish School. Entering its 19th year, the Memphis Italian Festival has become a Memphis area tradition in a family-friendly atmosphere at Marquette Park in East Memphis.

Events planned for the three-days include live music, an arts and crafts fair featuring more than 60 vendors and the Italian cooking contest with 48 teams. The festival will also offer Italian and American concessions, games and activities for children, grape stomping and cooking demonstrations by eight local chefs.

The festivities begin Thursday evening with Mass celebrated in Italian by Father William Parham at Holy Rosary Church at 5 p.m., immediately followed by the traditional procession of Mary to Marquette Park and the blessing of the grounds. Thursday offers musical entertainment starting at 6 p.m. with Kevin and Bethany Paige performing as the main act.

Friday and Saturday, the grounds are open to the public from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m, with free admission on Friday from 11 a.m. _ 1 p.m. Musical entertainment is scheduled throughout both days, capped off by Keith Sykes on the Sam`s Town Main Stage as the headline act for Friday.

Saturday features Memphis' own Larry Raspberry and the Highsteppers taking the stage at 7:30 p.m. The headline act for Saturday night is none other than Grammy Award winning recording artist, Delbert McClinton, performing at 9:30 p.m. on the Sam`s Town Main Stage.

Information about all scheduled events is available at www.memphisitalianfestival.com.