CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — The streets of downtown Clarksburg are decorated top to bottom in green, white and red because one of Clarksburg’s favorite traditions is back for the 44th year.

The West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival began on Friday morning with an opening ceremony on the main stage right outside of the Harrison County Courthouse. The coronation of the 44th Regina Maria followed as the streets began to flood with plenty of festivalgoers and entertainment.

With so many vendors and games all along West Main Street, there’s plenty to get into. 12 News spoke with 11-year-old Will Pirrl, who attended the festival for the first time this year, on a few of his favorite things about the event so far.

“Well, I’ve looked at stuff to buy, I’ve seen performances, and I’ve also ate food, but my favorite part was probably honestly seeing the things that happen here,” Will said.

One of the biggest attractions of the Italian Heritage Festival is the large variety of cuisines available. Lines stretched around vendor’s tents for items like frittis, cannolis, fresh pizza and Giovanni sandwiches.

Although there is a great variety of food items within the festival, you can’t go wrong with sampling guanine Italian desserts, which Will stated he tried the most of.

This year’s Italian Heritage Festival features a special play area for children that includes inflatable games, a petting zoo and character meets. There are also bingo games every day throughout the weekend, live entertainment every evening, and the grand feature parade that begins at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

A full schedule of events for this year’s Italian Heritage Festival here and updates are posted to the festival’s Facebook page.