Feast of San Gennaro

Street vendors selling sausages at the feast

The Feast of San Gennaro, originally a one-day religious commemoration, began in September 1926 when newly arrived immigrants from Naples congregated along Mulberry Street in the Little Italy section of New York City, to continue the tradition they had followed in Italy to celebrate San Gennaro as the Patron Saint of Naples. His feast day is September 19 in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The immigrant families on Mulberry Street who started it all were Nappi, Vitale, Montanini and Tisi. Each one of them had a coffee house (café) on Mulberry Street, between Grand and Hester Streets. They strung lengths of colored light bulbs across the street from building fire escapes and brought their business out onto the sidewalk. They erected a small chapel in the street to house the image of their patron Saint. They invited all to partake of their wares, asking only that the devoted pin a small offering to the ribbon streamers that are hung from the statue's apron. This money was then distributed to the needy poor of the neighborhood. In that way they felt they could do charitable works and also pay homage to their patron Saint.[2] The festival expanded and is now an 11-day street fair beginning on the second Thursday in September in the Little Italy area of Manhattan as an annual celebration of Italian culture and the Italian-American community.

Centered on Mulberry Street, which is closed to traffic for the occasion, the festival generally features parades, street vendors, sausages, games and zeppole. The Grand Procession is held starting at 2 p.m on the last Saturday of the feast, immediately after a celebratory Mass at the Church of the Most Precious Blood. This is a Roman Catholic candlelit procession in which the statue of San Gennaro is carried from its permanent home in the Most Precious Blood Church through the streets of Little Italy.

Another festival is held with the same attractions in New York City's other Little Italy, in the Fordham/Belmont community in the Bronx. The streets are closed to traffic, and the festivities begin early in the morning and proceed late into the night. In 2002 Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla, and Doug DeLuca founded the Feast of San Gennaro Los Angeles, and it is a major annual event held every September in Hollywood. Also, Tony Saca brought The Feast of San Gennaro to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1986. The event started small in a park, but now due to its enormous success moved to larger grounds. It is held twice a year, once in the Spring --the 2011 Feast begins May 4, 2011[3]--& in the Fall in September. The Las Vegas, Nevada, festival has traditional Italian cusine, carnival rides & games, & entertainers such as Emilio Baglioni & Louie Prima's daughter Lena Prima.

Similar festivals have also been sponsored in other U.S. major cities.

Popular culture

The Feast of San Gennaro was featured in The Godfather Part III. In Part III, Vito's grandson Vincent "Vinnie" Mancini-Corleone assassinates rival Joey Zasa during the festival in public, causing widespread panic throughout Little Italy. A furious Michael Corleone orders that nothing like that ever be done again.

It was also featured prominently in the 1973 movie Mean Streets.

It was a crime scene on CSI: NY in the season 2 episode "Corporate Warriors".

It is mentioned in the song "Sad Nights" by Blue Rodeo.

There is an episode of The Sopranos, in which Tony, Carmella, and several other members of the family attend the festival.

Gallery

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  Street Vendors selling cheesesteak sandwiches, sausages and other foods lines the streets
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  The Most Precious Blood Church, during the San Gennaro Festival, featuring a shrine to San Gennaro on the left
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  A San Gennaro shrine in the courtyard of the Most Precious Blood Church

External links

• Feast of San Gennaro official site (sponsored by Figli di San Gennaro)
• Feast of San Gennaro Los Angeles
• The Feast of San Gennaro On Flickr Photowalk - Feast of San Gennaro, Sept 2009
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