Sharing culture: Shrewsbury Street jolts with parade celebrating Italian heritage

WORCESTER — Mount Carmel Apartments resident Anna Bogosian said she found out from an announcement on TV that the Shrewsbury Street Italian Heritage Parade was returning after a four-year absence.

And Sunday afternoon, the once annual event — formerly known as the Worcester Columbus Day Parade — was about to march past her building.

Bogosian wasted no time and set up with a camping chair next to a couple of neighbors at the corner of Shrewsbury and Mulberry streets.

“I’m happy I did because it was just wonderful,” Bogosian said. “It is necessary to do something like this because Worcester is filled with such a colorful amount of heritage."

Music, marching bands and smiling residents headlined the Shrewsbury Street Italian Heritage Parade with hundreds of people participating in the celebrations.

Historically held on the Sunday closest to Columbus Day, the parade returned this year with a new name and energy.

In 2018, the Columbus Day Parade was the last event that celebrated Italian heritage, but it wasn’t held for four years after the organizing committee dissolved in late 2018.

Maria Stella Fiore, the chair of the Shrewsbury Street Italian Heritage Parade Committee, and others regrouped and brought back the first edition of the parade Sunday.

Hundreds of residents walked from Aitchison Street, through Shrewsbury Street to Union Station holding up their phones to catch a memory of the colors, cheers and people.

“It’s about heritage, it’s about tradition and it’s about the community coming together, not to celebrate Columbus,” said Fiore. “We should celebrate the Italian heritage just like we do for the Caribbean (people) and the Puerto Ricans, for example. We're here to support each other.”

Brass bands from city high schools also marched in the parade that stepped off at noon.

'This is about culture'

David Gichuri of Worcester awaited on the sidewalk of Aitchinson Street, where the parade began, with his phone ready to catch the band that was preparing to start its march.

While he was at the parade to support his son, who played drums at Burncoat High School, he also found significance in the parade being held after years of absence.

“This is about culture and all cultural events are important,” said Gichuri. “Being a melting pot, Worcester should see these events, so it creates cohesion between all the cultures here.”

With dancers, floats and trucks that honked their horns, the parade pushed through Shrewsbury and ended at Union Station, where more residents waved, cheered and sang along with songs that the Italian American community identifies, such as a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

Cristoforo Colombo Park, also known as East Park, saw action with a festival of music, food and other activities.

Restaurants on both sides of Shrewsbury Street, such as Piccolo’s Restaurant and Pepe’s Pizzeria, stayed open despite usually being closed Sundays.

A trio of circus artists from Extraordinary Arts of a stilt walker and two dancers who dressed in green and red — two of the Italian flag colors that are synonymous with the country — walked with the parade.

Cassie Gala of Worcester, one of the wing dancers who said that she was of Italian ancestry, said that the event holds cultural importance for those who are part of it and those watching.

“Celebrating culture, bringing people together, having fun things for the kids in the public are things that are important for the city,” said Gala.

History of parade

The parade was first organized by Michael J. McGivney, an Irishman, who started the first Columbus Day Parade as a Catholic celebration in the city in 1910.

It was later assumed by Italian groups, which increased in the city starting in the late 1800s.

In recent years, the number of people who attended and participated in the parade along the mile-long stretch of Shrewsbury Street had been dwindling.

Although Fiore admitted to the Telegram & Gazette previously that the new organization of the parade was at its earliest stages, she remained hopeful.

Robert Williams, of Worcester, said that the importance of holding a parade like the one on Shrewsbury Street was important for everyone not only of Italian ancestry, but also everyone else in the city.

“It's important to know where you came from, so you can figure out where you're going,” said Williams. “We need to know where our grandparents came from."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Italian Heritage Parade Shrewsbury Street Worcester