by Pam DeFiglio

A 115-year-old Italian festival took place in Niles for the first time on Labor Day weekend, attracting large and enthusiastic crowds and garnering praise. The Maria Santissima Lauretana festival, which is part Catholic religious celebration and part full-fledged Italian-American festival, featured an old-fashioned tradition called the "Flight of the Angels," as well as Italian food booths, a carnival and a full schedule of Italian-themed live music. It took place on Church Street and in Golf Mill Park, just south of Golf Mill Shopping Center.

The Maria Santissima Lauretana festival moved this year from Berwyn, where it has been held for more than 20 years, to Niles. "The people of Berwyn were very gracious to us, but our members on the Northside complained it was too far, so we moved it back," said Joe Camarda, president of the Maria Santissima Lauretana Society of Altavilla Milicia in Chicago, in an interview earlier this summer.

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Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/