WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) — It’s always the great events that stand the test of time.

That can definitely be said for the Undo’s Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival.

It’s one of the Friendly City’s biggest and longest running events, drawing thousands of people to the downtown area now for four decades. 2023 will be the fortieth year for the festival, which organizers say will be the biggest and best yet.

All of the traditional favorites will be back including the famous Sons of Italy Sausage Sandwich and the entertainment will be top notch. Headlining this year will be national recording artist and Pittsburgh legend, Donnie Iris and the Cruisers.

“The one thing that’s changed is that Little Italy is coming back. We had it last year. We had three different companies come in and cook, which is excellent. I tried all of them, I did my best. This year we had another one coming in. We are going to be at WesBanco Arena, on their patio, facing the river. And you’ll be able to hear a little Italian music. There will be Italian dancers.”

Bob Triveri. Media Chairperson, Undo’s Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival

One other change for this year is that the bocce tournament will be moved to the McClure Hotel due to basketball taking place that weekend.

The festival will be at Heritage Port from July 28 through July 30.