Feast of San Gennaro
Thursday, September 12 at 6:00 PM to Sunday, September 22 at 9:00 PM
Little Italy
Beginning September 12th, The Feast of San Gennaro, celebrates its 93rd anniversary this year hosting a variety of activities and events throughout its 11-day celebration.
The Feast takes place in the heart of Little Italy, running along Mulberry Street, between Canal Street (on south) and Houston Street (on north). The annual festival presented by Figli di San Gennaro (Children of San Gennaro) is a not-for-profit community organization dedicated to keeping the spirit and faith of the early Italian immigrants alive. To celebrate traditions of the past, the feast will be reintroducing the traditional, column lights to illuminate the streets in celebration of authentic Italy heritage. The celebration spans over 10 blocks with vendors offering everything from zeppoles to custom made jewelry, entertainment and family friendly activities.
The feast will kick-off with The Blessing of The Stands on September 12th at 6:00 PM. During this event, a Parish Priest parades through the festival blessing all the shops, restaurants, vendors, and merchants to symbol an enjoyable and successful feast. In addition, the Grand Procession parade will take place on September 14th at 2:00 PM lead by Grand Marshall Steve Schirripa, a New York based actor.
Steve Schirripa, a local Manhattan actor stars in Blue Bloods on CBS and known for various Italian acting roles and was chosen as the grand Marshall of the Italian feast, a role held by comedian Vic Dibitetto in 2018.
New for 2019, the Feast is introducing an inaugural Zeppole Eating Competition on Wednesday, September 18th at 1:00 PM. The contest will be sponsored by DANNY ON THE CORNER.
Two crowd favorites return this year, the 22nd Annual Cannoli Eating Competition on September 13th at 2:00 PM and the 4th Annual Meatball Eating Competition on September 21st at 1:00 PM. The cannoli contest is sponsored by Ferrara Bakery at the stage intersections of Mott and Grand Streets, this long running contest brings out the best in food competitions with a classic Italian treat. The meatball contest, which made its debut at the festival in 2016, is held in honor of the “unofficial Mayor of Little Italy,” Johnny “Cha Cha” Ciarcia.
