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Columbus Day Parade, Italian Festival Set for This Weekend in Seaside Heights

by
Daniel Nee
October 7, 2025

The 2024 Italian Festival in Seaside Heights, N.J. (Photo: Parade Committee)

The 34th annual Ocean County Italian Festival and Columbus Day Parade will be held this weekend in Seaside Heights, complete with food, fun, games and a celebration of Italian culture.

The festival will be held on Grant Avenue Friday, Oct. 10 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 11 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (coinciding with the parade). Grant Avenue will be closed to traffic so pedestrians can walk through the street fair. The parade itself will kick off at 1 p.m. Sunday on the Boulevard featuring, floats, bands, classic cars and guests.

This year’s parade will feature the folkloric “Gruppo Canterini della Riviera Jonica Melino Romolo,” which was formed in 1965 in the town of Roccalumera, Messina province, on the island of Sicily. The group performs Italian folk music and travels the world to keep traditional culture alive.

The 2024 Italian Festival in Seaside Heights, N.J. (Photo: Parade Committee)

This year, Brick Township residents Anthony and Kendra Zarrilli will serve as a husband-and-wife Grand Marshal team. The couple are known for their home-building company, Zarrilli Homes, their restaurant, the Mantoloking Ale House, as well as their latest passion project in the form of the Mantoloking Road Playhouse theater – the first of its kind in the area.

The weekend’s full entertainment schedule is published below.

PERFORMING	TIME	LOCATION
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2025
Jimmy Bono Geany	5:00 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
“I Canterini delle Riviera Jonica Melino Romolo”	5:15 p.m.	Main Stage
Opening Ceremonies	6:00 p.m.	Main Stage
Strolling Metropolitan Festival Band	6:00 p.m.	Along Grant Ave & Ocean Terr
Juke Box Legends	6:10 p.m.	Main Stage
Mia & Frank	6:15 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
The Cameos	7:30 p.m.	Main Stage
Jimmy Bono Geany	8:30 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2025
Jimmy Bono Geany	12:00 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
“I Canterini delle Riviera Jonica Melino Romolo”	12:00 p.m.	Main Stage
Zack Alexander – Crooner of The Classics	1:15 p.m.	Main Stage
Bob Kulik	2:30 p.m.	Main Stage
Patsy Palma	3:00 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
Jimmy Bono Geany	4:30 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
“I Canterini delle Riviera Jonica Melino Romolo”	5:00 p.m.	Main Stage
Patsy Palma	5:30 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
Strolling Metropolitan Festival Band	6:00 p.m.	Along Grant Ave & Ocean Terr
Tomardo	6:15 p.m.	Main Stage
Jimmy Bono Geany	7:00 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
Juke Box Legends	7:30 p.m.	Main Stage
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2025
Mia & Frank	11:00 a.m.	Reviewing Stand
Jimmy Bono Geany	12:00 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
34^th ANNUAL OCEAN COUNTY COLUMBUS DAY PARADE	1:00 P.M.	THE BOULEVARD
B & G Entertainment	1:00 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
Rancho Folclorico “Danca Na Eira” (Portuguese Group)	2:30 p.m.	Main Stage
“I Canterini delle Riviera Jonica Melino Romolo”	2:45 p.m.	Reviewing Stand
Patsy Palma	3:00 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
Bob Kulik	4:00 p.m.	Main Stage
Strolling Metropolitan Festival Band	4:00 p.m.	Along Grant Ave & Ocean Terr
Jimmy Bono Geany	4:30 p.m.	Entertainment and Dining Tent
Juke Box Legends	5:30 p.m.	Main Stage