One of the most popular parties of the summer is continuing in Little Italy.

One family welcomed us in like one of their own while preparing some delicious treats.

The Saint Paul Italian Festival celebrates culture and contributions of Erie’s Italian Community.

The church showcases music and dancing along with great food, including the traditional spaghetti dinner which takes place on Sunday.

“When I was a kid they had it here because I grew up right across the street from the church and for some reason they quite having Italian picnic. Well in 1980 we decided that we were going to bring it back and we’ve been pretty successful,” said Ron DiVecchio, chairman of the St. Paul Italian Festival.

According to the chairman, its an honor of the blessed mother because the festival is the closest to her feast. He explained that this event also keeps their parish afloat.

“It pays a lot of the bills down here because we are a small perish,” he said. “We want to keep it active. Its very important.”

One of DiVecchio’s missions is to make sure the festival stays for generations to come.

“A lot of us have the heritage. My father grew up in this neighborhood he went to the school so it just a family affair,” said Faith Natalie, who was making pizza fritta.

Faith’s niece, Julia, was excited to cook and be apart of the festivities this weekend to keep the family tradition alive.

“In this booth we’re making what we call pizza frites. Basically fried dough that you can shake sugar on, cinnamon on, any combination,” Natalie said.

Julia told us she learned everything she needs to know about the dough from her grandpa, and of course, her favorite part of the festival is what we all love to do.

“Smelling all the food,” said Julia.

The Saint Paul Italian Festival continues all weekend long, Saturday from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to six. There’s going to be Italian dancing and a band from Pittsburgh so you do not want to miss it.