Festival highlights Italian traditions

Three bands and traditional Italian cooking will be featured in this year's riverside festival on Sunday.

More than 300 years ago, Quakers first settled in Bristol. But now it's the Italians holding down the fort and they will be celebrating their heritage Sunday in Lions Park.

Italians made their ways into Bristol mostly for industrial work, many settling their families in the 1.7-square-mile borough and starting up Italian community groups.

The Italian Presbyterian Mission was founded in 1905. It was housed at the old Presbyterian Church on Radcliffe Street until a chapel was built in 1910 on the corner of Wood Street and Lincoln Avenue, according to the Bristol Cultural & Historical Foundation Web site.

St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, an Italian parish, was also founded in 1905. A new church was built in 1908 on the corner of Pond and Washington streets. A new rectory was built next to it, reads the Web site.

Years later, some Italian traditions still survive in Bristol. The annual Bristol Lions Italian Festival is one of them. This year's festivities will be held in Lions Park on the Delaware River. Like every year, attendees can enjoy a day full of traditional Italian music and food.

Food booths will be set up around the park throughout the celebration. The Bristol Lions Club usually cooks up sausage and peppers, Italian hot dogs and roast pork sandwiches.

Nice.