UTICA — After a two year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a local Italian tradition will be returning to Utica this weekend.

The Italian Festival at St. Mary of Mount Carmel/Blessed Sacrament Parish, 648 Jay Street, is scheduled for Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16, from 5 to 10 p.m. and Sunday, July 17 from noon to 4 p.m.

"The Italian Festival here at St. Mary of Mount Carmel/Blessed Sacrament Church is dedicated to our patrons' Saint, Our Lady of Mount Carmel," said Bill Thibault, trustee of St. Mary of Mount Carmel/Blessed Sacrament Parish. "Each year, during the middle of July, we have a huge festival on our grounds to celebrate her sainthood."

The festival will have a variety of food and drinks, as well as live entertainment and games for people who attend.

The highlight of the festival each year is their "buona fortuna" raffle, meaning "good fortune" in Italian, where the church will be selling $20 tickets for a chance to win a grand prize of $10,000. There will also be a second prize of $2,500, a third prize of $1,000 and an additional drawing of $1,000. Tickets will be sold all weekend long and the drawing will take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 17. Winners do not need to be present during the drawing to claim prizes.

The festival has been a decades old celebration for the local Italian-American community and the patrons of St. Mary of Mount Carmel/Blessed Sacrament Parish. The church is looking forward to bringing the event back and continuing over 60 years of tradition for the city of Utica.

"Everybody smiles," Thibault said. "Everybody smiles when we can do it."