For four hot August days, a huge tent kept the sun away from the parking lot next to the church that houses Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Loreto Parish. Beneath that tent, parishioners, visitors, and neighborhood families ate, drank, and enjoyed this year’s Italian Festival, which took place Aug. 10-13 at the church.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, long tables full of families and friends stretched toward a stage where a singer softly sang jazz music into a microphone. The tent was lined with food stands, and the queues for gelato and cannoli were lengthy, but worth it.