The theme for this year’s St. Anthony’s Italian Festival in Wilmington is simply benvenuti: Welcome back, after two years of the world torn asunder by the pandemic.

The festival – expected to draw tens of thousands people to St. Anthony of Padua Church on June 12-19 – succeeds because of extensive planning and the commitment of people to the parish, its leaders say. It is one of a more than a dozen recurring Italian festivals in the greater Delaware Valley.