The Feast of San Gennaro Festival 2022 is a street fair and religious procession in Downtown Manhattan’s Little Italy that celebrates the main patron saint of Naples.
Feast of San Gennaro Festival 2022
The Feast of San Gennaro Festival 2022 is on Mulberry Street in Manhattan Little Italy Downtown, from Thursday, September 15-25, 2022. The grand procession is on Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 2pm. 🇮🇹
This year’s theme is Celebrating American and Honoring Our Armed Forces.
The festival’s Grand Marshal is former NASA astronaut Michael J. Massimino.
There is live entertainment every night. In addition to live music and dance performances, there are Cannoli, Zeppole, and Pizza eating contests. There’s also the 26th annual Enrico Caruso Opera Night.
The Solemn High Mass for San Gennaro is at the Shrine Church of the Most Precious Blood on September 19, 2022 at 6pm.
San Gennaro
The festival commemorates the death of San Gennaro (Saint Januarius) who was a third century Roman bishop of Naples who was martyred. He lived in the time just before Rome accepted Christianity, and was beheaded for sheltering Christians from persecution.
In many cultures around the world, relics of local saints are venerated. The saint’s body and head were eventually moved to the Naples Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary. Many call it the Cathedral of San Gennaro.
One of the saint’s relics is two vials of his blood. Normally dry, the miracle is that on some occasions, the blood liquifies. There are pilgrimages to the Naples Cathedral on September 19 the day of his murder, December 16 in honor of Naples, and the first Sunday in May to celebrate the reunification of his body. The old legend is that the blood wants to be reunited with his body.
These kind of things sound crazy until you see them with your own eyes. Many Neopolitans will look you in the eye and swear that it is true.
The San Gennaro Festival
During the peak years of Italian migration to New York City (1900-10), many people in this Little Italy came from neighborhoods and villages around Naples.
The San Gennaro Festival is a street fair with Italian food, carnival games, and live entertainment on many nights. It’s very romantic and something that visitors and new New Yorkers love. It makes a great date.
On or around September 19th, the statue of San Gennaro is carried from the Most Precious Blood Church and up Mulberry Street through the fair. Along the way, local business owners attach money to the statue for blessings. It’s a beautiful thing to watch, but please be respectful of this serious religious procession.
For a full schedule of events, visit sangennaronyc.org