It’s all about the gravy at Memphis Italian Festival. And don’t dare call it spaghetti sauce. That’s blasphemy at this event. “Sauce is a marinara, but when you add meat, it becomes a gravy,” explained defending Grand Champion Scott Manes, who has been the head cook of the team Mama Biondini's for the past seven years.

The beloved festival "where everyone is Italian” will return to Marquette Park in East  Memphis Thursday-Saturday. For more than three decades, the festival and cooking contest have celebrated all things Italian in Memphis. What originated as a Holy Rosary School fundraiser in a parking lot with eight teams has grown into a full-blown festival and cooking competition with more than 40 teams competing for the title of Grand Champion.