Fri 8/12 @ 6PM-midnight
Sat 8/13 @ noon-midnight
Sun 8/14 @ noon-11PM
Mon 8/15 @ noon-10PM
It’s that time again — time for one of the Cleveland’s favorite festival, the Feast of the Assumption in Little Italy, now in its 122nd year. Mayfield Road will be closed off for four days as restaurants take it outside to the street and the aroma of Italian food draws you in to eat way more than you probably intended. There’s also entertainment, a casino on the lower level of Holy Rosary Church, and inflatables and games (and more food) in the churchyard.
It’s easy for the average Clevelander to forget this is a religious festival and not a food festival, so abundant are the eats. But the Feast of the Assumption marks the day Mary ascended to heaven. That official day is August 15, and that’s the day of the solemn mass at Holy Rosary and the procession through the streets of the neighborhood, with people dressed in colorful costumes representing different areas of Italy, pulling wagons and Mary’s likeness and brandishing crosses. The festival closes that day, Monday August 15, at 9pm with a candlelight procession and prayer service.
