There are three things we can count on in Newton in July: Fireworks, roadwork detours, and the wildly popular Italian-American Festival at Pellegrini Park along Hawthorn Street in Nonantum.

Affectionately called “Festa,” the celebration kicks off Wednesday evening with live music by the Watch City Cadillacs as well as Dan Fontaine at 6 p.m. and the Memphis Sun Mafia at 8:30 p.m. On Thursday, Back to the 80s will perform 1980s hits starting at 6 p.m., and The Breeze will take the stage at 8:30 p.m.

The weekend will rock on with more live music, a beer and wine garden, a huge carnival and all the Italian sausage you can eat. And fried dough. This isn’t a weekend for dieters.

The festival will close on Sunday with the Procession of the Madonna down Adams Street.

The Madonna in this case is the Virgin Mary, not to be confused with the pop star who just released her 15th studio album. But there will be some dancing and pyrotechnics.

For a complete schedule of this year’s Italian-American Festival, click here.

The St. Mary of Carmen Society has been throwing this epic block party since the Great Depression.

“Festa has always been a part of my life starting from my grandfather, founder of the Society, down to my father and to my brother, who was president for 42 years,” Teresa Sauro, one of the festival organizers, said. “When we were kids they used to store the cart in my aunt’s garage. The day before the procession, my aunt would pull out the cart and we would decorate it with ribbons, netting, flowers, etc. Once it was decorated, we would wheel it to the church to await the procession. Years ago the carnival was at Our Lady’s parking lot.”

Nonantum’s Italian community has been there since the 18th century, when factories popped up throughout the region and Italian immigrants populated the area around what was then a lake: Silver Lake. Jewish immigrant families from Europe came next, helping to create the unique tapestry of multigenerational Italian and Jewish families that have shaped Nonantum since.

As factories popped up, so did the need for housing. And so, piece by piece over the course of several decades, that lake was filled in, each stone sending Silver Lake further into memory.

Today, when people mention “The Lake,” it’s a nickname for a village and an homage to an origin story. And that story is celebrated with gusto every July as Festa rolls through.

“This year’s festa means bringing back the families that have moved away, our memories, and keeping our traditions alive for generations to come,” Sauro said.