San Gennaro Feast

I am not sure if I want to go into journalism or not. I did enjoy writing this piece in class. It was in the form of an IP news story.

Little Italy’s San Gennaro Feast


New York City’s oldest and biggest street festival, the feast of San Gennaro, will begin on Thursday, September 11, 2008 and continue through Sunday, September 21, 2008. This will be the 81st annual feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy.

This feast is commonly known as the best Italian celebration in the United States. The festival has been predicted to once again attract more than one million people to the streets of Little Italy. The festivities throughout the 11-day festival include parades, food stands, musical entertainment, fair games, merchandise, carnival rides and religious processions to the statue of San Gennaro. The feast hours run as follows: 11:00 am to 11:00 pm Sundays through Thursdays and from 11:00 am to 12:30 am on Fridays and Saturdays.

The feast of San Gennaro is a celebration of the Patron Saint of Naples, who was martyred in 305 A.D. The first celebration of this saint took place on September 19, 1926 by immigrants from Naples new to the United States. The immigrants who settled along Mulberry Street in Little Italy celebrated their arrival with a one-day celebration. With its growing popularity throughout the years, the feast has expanded from a one day celebration to an 11-day festival. There are more than 200 vendors lined up along Mulberry Street, Canal Street and Houston Street. Everywhere you look there are the colors of red, white and green from the banners hanging overhead to the amount of merchandise surrounding you.

The party-like fashion is not the only reason why this feast is so popular. The religious aspect of it also attracts people from all different areas.

“It’s taken on a more religious aspect since 9/11,” says Father Fabian Grifone, an 82 year-old priest of the Most Precious Blood Church in the center of Little Italy.

“People have been reminded that San Gennaro is the patron saint to invoke against disaster, since disaster did visit us [six] years ago. They want to get back to a real spiritual side of the feast.”

With the religious aspect playing an important role in the feast, there are many ceremonies taking place throughout the two weeks. A special memorial mass will take place in the Most Precious Blood Church at 5 pm on Thursday September 11 marking the seventh anniversary of 9/11. The Blessing of the Stands will take place right after the mass at 6 p.m. where Father Fabian Grifone will walk through the whole feast blessing the merchants and vendors. The Grand Procession will occur on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. The famous Celebratory Mass, which honors San Gennaro, will take place on Friday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Most Precious Blood Church and will be followed by the Religious Procession with the statue at 7 p.m.

While Little Italy has been shrinking for years, slowly being consumed by Chinatown and the Soho district, the festival still lives on strongly with the crowd increasing as the years pass.

“Each year the beloved Feast of San Gennaro brings the world to Little Italy, and Little Italy to the world,” says Joseph Mattone, President of Figli di San Gennaro, Inc. Other members on the board include Vice President/Treasurer Vivian Catenaccio; Secretary Emily DePalo; and Anthony Cannataro, Charles DiRenzo, Robert Marshall and Jean Samma.

Through the feast, the Figli di San Gennaro, Inc has been able to donate some of the profits to charity. The charitable donation from the feast is up to 1.7 million dollars. The donations are spread throughout the children of Little Italy, charities within all five boroughs and the tri state area. No other public festival in the United States gives more to charity than the San Gennaro Feast.

“The Feast is a time for remembrance and reconciliation, and a time for celebration. The excellent food, the free musical entertainment and the excitement will all be there again this year, bigger and better than ever. On behalf of Figli di San Gennaro, I invite people of all backgrounds and ethnicities to join us in September in New York City’s Little Italy to help celebrate Italian culture and heritage.”




I thought that was pretty good and enjoyed writing it very much. I used to write for my city's newspaper until I had to go away to college. I have been told that I could go into the field of journalism, but I still haven't decided. There is so much to choose out there!