Feast of San Gennaro starts this week in Little Italy

LOWER MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) – New York City’s Little Italy will fill with the scent of food this week as the Feast of San Gennaro returns for another season. 

The feast, now in its 98th year, kicks off Thursday with the Blessing of the Stands at 6 p.m. The festivities will last through Sept. 22 on Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston Streets. 

Throughout the week, the streets will be filled with decorations, music, tons of hungry attendees and, of course, great food. And on Sept. 14, the grand procession will fill the neighborhood with floats, gondolas and the Clarity Festival Band.

“For generations this feast has always been an important part of our neighborhood not only representing the Saint Himself but also representing our ancestors, our culture and our traditions,” organizers said on the event’s website. 

Along with the great food, performances will fill the streets with music, including a karaoke night, a giglio band, and Johnny Mandolin & Friends. For a full list of events, visit the Feast of San Gennaro's website.

This year’s grand marshal is Anne Burrell, a chef made famous on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef” and “Worst Cooks in America.” Burrell grew up in upstate New York and apprenticed under Italian chefs.

Lower Manhattan became home to Italian immigrants at the turn of the 20th century, and the first iteration of the feast started in 1926 when the Neapolitans settled on Mulberry Street organized a block party, according to organizers.