I Attended the 2022 Feast of San Gennaro in New York City!

The Feast of San Gennaro is in full swing! A foodie's dream, this iconic Italian street festival is being held until Sunday, September 25 in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan.

The first Feast of San Gennaro was held in 1926. The Feast's official website states that "at the turn of the 20th century when Italian immigrants settled on the lower east side of Manhattan each region settled on a different street. The Neapolitans settled on Mulberry St.", where the feast is held to this day. "In 1926 with keeping their Neapolitan traditions they decided to have a one day block party for their patron saint and protector of Naples, San Gennaro which continued year after year something that has now and for decades become not only a New York icon but a world known 11 day event which stretches throughout 11 blocks of the Little Italy neighborhood."

San Gennaro of Naples who was Bishop of Benevento, Italy. "Neapolitans pray to him for protection from fires, earthquakes, plagues, droughts and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. In every emergency Saint Gennaro is their powerful champion and universal helper (Source)."

This past Saturday, September 17th, I had the pleasure of attending the 96th annual Feast of San Gennaro! I entered Mulberry St. from the North and walked South down the street, taking in all the delicious sights and smells.

As the day went on, more and more people showed up to attend the festival and it became fairly crowded. There were many vendors selling different things such as jewelry, magnets, T-shirts, cigars, nougat, sausage and pepper sandwiches, pastries, fried rainbow cookies, Neapolitan pizza, cheese wheel pasta...the list goes on and on!

In addition to eating my weight in rainbow cookies and Sfogliatella, my group and I had a meal at a restaurant on Mulberry St. We also caught a glimpse of The Grand Procession parade while sitting in the restaurant. Unfortunately, due to how crowded the streets were and where we were sitting in the restaurant, I was unable to get any footage of the parade.

If you're going to hit the Feast of San Gennaro, make sure to fast for several hours before arriving! My foodie heart (and stomach) was absolutely full at this event. The final day of the 2022 feast is Sunday, September 25.