The Italian-American festival in Newton has been rocking all weekend long, as organizers and longtime residents say “LineGate” has “absolutely, unequivocally” caused more people from all over to turn out in support.

Neighbors of Nonantum, the site of the 90th annual “Festa,” are continuing to take back Adams Street, the road where they say Mayor Ruthanne Fuller stole part of their heritage.

Just three weeks before the festival’s start, city workers, at Fuller’s direction, ripped apart  Adams Street and laid down thick, rubberized yellow lines. The action took away red, white and green lines that had been on the road for nearly the past century.

But after the festivities wound down Friday night, neighbors expanded their effort to reclaim the road, painting over the double yellow lines in their beloved colors. Red, white and green covered about half of the street ahead of Saturday’s party, resident Fran Yerardi told the Herald.

“You’ve got the people of the neighborhood who are resilient,” Yerardi said, “and they feel unstoppable because they’re taking back their streets. When this first happened, they felt like something was ripped from them, and now they are unified, they are proud, and they are unstoppable.”

The continued effort comes after Jordan Lee Wagner, a Jewish neighbor who attends the Adams Street Shul, put out a call for action to residents on Facebook earlier in the week, to “just go out and paint,” even if it meant arrests are involved.

Newton police officers could be seen patrolling the area early Saturday afternoon. The department had been seeking complaints in Newton District Court against a 54-year-old city man who allegedly spray-painted over the double yellow lines early Wednesday morning.

The festival’s organizer, the St. Mary of Carmen Society, an Italian-American Catholic organization, has mandated members not to participate in repainting the lines despite their frustrations over the mayor’s decision, Vice President Carl Pasquarosa told the Herald.

Paquarosa’s grandfather helped start the festival in 1935 as one of the society’s founding fathers. He said the five-day event, every mid-July, is the “fiber that binds this community together.”

Pasquarosa called the timing of Fuller’s decision to do away with the red, white and green lines “nefarious” and “suspect.” He said he felt the action was erasing 90 years of history.

“It’s not about the lines per se,” he told the Herald at the festival Friday evening, “it’s about what those lines mean to everyone in the neighborhood.”

“We know it could have waited,” he added, “and there should have been a discussion about that opportunity to wait. Otherwise, as I’ve been saying, 100% of the problem comes from 1% of City Hall. There’s no explanation, there’s no valid explanation.”

Last Monday, Fuller admitted that the city “missed the mark in communicating” with residents and the City Council ahead of time about the controversial decision, while acknowledging that the “tricolor center line has been an important and meaningful tradition.”

The mayor stressed that the decision for yellow lines on the two-way street was for public safety, citing a 2024 citywide analysis of traffic volume and vehicle speeds that revealed Adams Street as most in need of traffic calming measures. She said the lines were mandatory to comply with federal and state regulations.

Fuller alerted residents in her memo that the city is allowing red and green paint between the white lines in crosswalks and that fire hydrants can be painted in the colors.

“Let’s make Adams Street safer as we celebrate our Italian heritage,” she wrote.

Juliana Pasquarosa, who put Newton in the national spotlight by winning this past season of The Bachelor, echoed her father, calling the annual repainting of the red, white and green lines before Festa a “tradition.”

“We dress up Nonantum, we have fun, we love to celebrate and bring people together,” Pasquarosa, a member of the Carmen’s women’s society, told the Herald. “That’s the whole point of everything.”

“We have given time to have conversations,” she added, “it seems like (Fuller) is standing 10 toes down on making a decision that goes against community, and that’s all what we want to stand for.”

The mayor’s office has declined to make any new statements, referring the Herald to Fuller’s email memo from last Monday.  Fuller has announced she is not seeking a third term.

Siobhan Anderson, 35, has lived her entire life in Nonantum. She told the Herald residents are dealing with more than just LineGate, pointing to how the neighborhood is seeing “a lot of gentrification.”

What had been a neighborhood filled with an abundance of single- and two-family homes has turned into one with an increasing amount of development buildings, Anderson said. With it, she’s seen neighbors unable to afford to stay in the area.

“It has definitely been built up,” she said, “and I understand it because you always want to change, but sometimes, that change isn’t going to do well for the neighborhood.”

The Festa, Anderson said, has an added significance given what has been at play in the neighborhood.

“It means a lot more now,” she said, “because families come from out of state, out of town, to come during these five days, to celebrate the festival. It makes it more special to come and celebrate.”

The Festa is ingrained in the Proia family.

Chuck Proia, festival chairman of 20 years, said as a kid growing up in the neighborhood, he looked forward to this weekend all year long. Featuring a carnival-like atmosphere, he said everyone is welcome here, no matter their background.

“There are so many issues that you’ve got to deal with,” Proia said of LineGate and other situations that Nonantum faces. “This week is about this, the people, the families, the kids.”

“What has gotten me the most saddened with what’s going on is that this is what it’s about,” he added, “and we did not want to take away from this. At points in time, I felt that’s what was happening.”

Fairgoers take a ride on the “Warrior” during the 90th annual St. Mary of Carmen Society festival Thursday night in Newton. (Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald)