WORCESTER, Mass. - For 25 years, Worcester hosted an annual Columbus Day parade, with the last one held in 2018. This year, the parade returns and has been reimagined under the direction of a new committee and leadership.

The Italian Heritage Parade will take place on Sunday with over fifty contingents consisting of floats and community groups marching down Shrewsbury Street.

After the parade, a festival will take place in East Park on Shrewsbury Street with food vendors, music and rides for the kids. Local leaders and organizers said they are excited to share Italian heritage with everyone.

"Even though the name has changed, it's something that we've done for years," grand marshal Ed Russo said. "It's very nice that we're continuing to celebrate it under a different name, but we're also adding on this year, which is great too, by making it more family-friendly, to make it not just a parade then go home, we're having a lot of other things at the park. I think that's the important thing."

"I love the fact that we're adding new festivities for the kids and we're adding food trucks," parade mayor Candy Mero-Carlson said. "We're adding vendors, we're adding music. I think that it's really an opportunity for us to celebrate this day."

The parade starts at noon this Sunday, October 9.