Downtown filled up by lunchtime Friday and never slowed down until well into the night as thousands celebrated the 25th anniversary of Syracuse Italian Festival. The Festa Italiana is three days of food, music, dancing and history all in front of City Hall. Come with an empty stomach because you’ll find plenty of meatballs, sausage, Italian pastries and even homemade Italian ice. You can also find plenty of Italian beer and wine.

Some of the favorites from the New York State Fair are serving their food as well, including Villa’s Pizze Fritte. On Friday, the Mere Mortals played the main stage at 7 p.m., leading into Prime Time Horns. The headliners on Saturday are Ruby Shooz at 5 p.m., Infinity at 7 p.m. and Rydher at 9 p.m. The free event continues Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 7 p.m.