WORCESTER, Mass. — The newly painted crosswalks on Shrewsbury Street are a sure sign of the Italian Heritage Parade returning and organizers are excited for a great weekend in Worcester.

“We want to make it more of a full day of events rather than just the parade," Committee Secretary Jody Roberge said. "So, it's really something that a whole family can attend. There's something for everyone, all different kinds of activities in addition to the parade.”

Roberge said the third annual Italian Heritage Parade is going to be the biggest yet.

“This year, we have about 50 participants between bands, different floats, antique cars, different marching groups," Roberge said. "We really are an all-inclusive committee and organization. We want everyone to feel welcome.”

“It's really an opportunity to celebrate Italian heritage," Fran Pisegna said. "And it's not just for Italians, it's for our whole community.”

The festivities kick off Saturday night with a prayer service and dinner at Pepe’s Restaurant. On Sunday, in addition to the parade, East Park will play host to a free family festival with all kinds of activities including a soccer tournament between local Italian restaurants.

Committee member Fran Pisegna says he can’t wait to see all the planning pay off and both he and Roberge are looking forward to taking in the parade.

“I'm really looking forward to that, I'm going to be just watching the parade and not marching the parade this year," Pisegna said.

“This might be a little bit biased," Roberge said, "but what I'm most looking forward to is my daughter, Samantha Roberge, who is Miss Italian Heritage this year.”

And while Worcester has many cultures to be celebrated, Pisgena hopes the Italian Heritage Parade continues to grow every year.

“We're trying to bring this area back to Little Italy," Pisegna said. "Now it's really diverse and that's a good thing. But we still want — we've got strong roots with our Italian community, and we want to bring it back to Shrewsbury Street and a sign of that is the crosswalks being painted and getting more involved.”

While the celebration will run all day on Sunday, the parade starts at noon on the Plantation Street end of Shrewsbury Street and will head toward Washington Square.