St. Ann’s Italian Festival returns to Hoboken next week for it’s 109th year. The festival opens July 24 and runs to July 28 all along Jefferson St. between 7th and 8th St. International foods, live music and entertainment will again be featured at one of Hoboken’s most popular events.

The festival is not just about the food and music. It also celebrates the history of those who carved their own path into the city over a century ago. When the people of the Italian province of San Giacomo first came to Hoboken in the late 1800s to early 1900s, they clutched their religious and traditional ways as they set out to start new lives on another side of the world. This led to the formation of the St. Ann’s society as a means of holding on to their home and values.