Bloomfield residents celebrate Italian heritage during Columbus Day Parade

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Part of Bloomfield was packed on Saturday for the Pittsburgh Columbus Day Parade.

Several people donned red, white, and green to pay tribute to their Italian roots in Pittsburgh's "Little Italy." This parade is about bleeding those traditional Italian colors, no matter where you come from.

Organizers say this is one of the nation's longest-standing parades honoring Italian heritage.

"We feel like, even if we are all different people, like with different cultures and languages, we feel really close," Ilaria Ippoliti, a student visiting from Anagni, Italy, said.

Ilaria and her classmates are here on a one-month trip to the States. It's something that goes back a few decades.

"My parents started this relationship with the Italian community of Pittsburgh in 1988," Francesca Arganelli, Vice President of the Bonifacio VII Institute in Italy, said.

This time around, they waved their flags walking down Liberty Avenue in the latest edition of this staple.

Tony Ferraro is in charge of all of it. He loved the fanfare as a kid.

"Oh, we always came to the parade," Ferraro, chairman of the Pittsburgh Columbus Day Parade, said. "That was a big thing for us."

Whether you stood on the street corner or were perched on your outdoor chair, it's all about what unifies people.

"The fact that we keep our heritage is the most important," Ferraro said.

It doesn't matter if you've been here all your life or you're making a brief stop.

"We feel like part of this big family. Thank you so much," Ippoliti said.