Mount Carmel festival opening for 75th year

NILES — Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 381 Robbins Ave. will kick off its 75th annual Italian Festival beginning today.

The celebration will start at 11 a.m. with lunch, followed by mass. Games, rides, food, drinks and more will start at 5 p.m.

Dennis Hayda, festival co-chairman, said volunteers were busy Tuesday hauling in festival rides, paper products, and the food ingredients that the Italian Festival has earned its reputation on.

“We’ll be making unbelievable amounts of food,” said Hayda, who listed off trademark treats such as its sausage, pizzas and their popular cheese puffs.

Each evening, through Sunday, the area will be host to live entertainment by various musical artists.

To celebrate the anniversary, the festival will be topped by fireworks Sunday evening, followed by a grand prize raffle drawing for $5,000.

The festival started as a fundraiser and has grown every year, organizers said.