Red and green have now accompanied the white crosswalk stripes on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester in preparation for the Shrewsbury Street Italian Heritage parade on Sunday.
Scheduled to start at noon, the parade will begin at Aitchison Street and marching down to Washington Square near Union station according to Maria Stella Fiore, the president of the parade committee.
The parade will feature 50 entries, including floats, bands and trucks, according to Katherine Mercadante, a parade committee member. The grand marshal of the parade is Mercadante’s husband Kevin Mercadante — the president of the Mercadante funeral home and chapel in Worcester, according to the parade’s website.
“We do have a lot of different floats from different people going to be in the parade,” Mercadante said. “So it will be quite a variety.”
The painted crosswalks on Shrewsbury Street are a new addition to the parade, according to Fran Pisegna, another committee member.
Pisegna said that 12 crosswalks have been repainted in Italian flag colors.
At 9 a.m., prior to the parade, there will be a soccer tournament at East Park between teams sponsored by four Italian restaurants, said committee member Teresa Travaglio.
The restaurants are Mare E Monti, Russo’s, Calabria’s, and Pepe’s Italian Restaurant. The park will also feature bounce houses and bocce ball games.
After the parade, there will be a performance by the Italian American, Providence, R.I.-based band Abrosiani in the parking lot of Pepe’s Italian Restaurant, Travaglio told MassLive.
Food vendors will also be throughout the street during the day of the parade.
The first Shrewsbury Street Italian Heritage parade was held in 2022. Prior to that, a Columbus Day parade was held yearly until 2018. Following that year’s parade, the parade committee chair stepped down.
The heritage parade, however, is not associated with the Columbus Day parade, Pisegna told MassLive. The heritage parade is run by a committee different from the Columbus Day parade, and the current parade highlights heritage rather than the holiday.
“We’re doing our own thing,” said Pisegna. “It’s really about the Italian heritage and the diversity of Worcester and what makes Worcester so unique.”
