The festival celebrates the life of San Gennaro of Naples who was Bishop of Benevento, Italy. He was "martyred" in 305 AD during the persecution spearheaded by Emperor Diocletian. In 1926, and in keeping with their traditions, the Neapolitan immigrants decided to have a one day block party for their patron saint and protector of Naples. Since then, it has become a New York City event, and expanded to 11 days in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan.
Although the event is nominally a celebration of faith in the patron saint of Naples, the festive atmosphere and (especially) food are what the crowds come for. From pizza to zeppole to cream-filled cannoli, face stuffing is mandatory here.The Italian eateries are filled with mostly out-of-state tourists who are invited in by fast-talking hosts overdoing Italian accents, while well-loved songs by Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennet can barely be heard over the loud conversations.
It's not what the saint might have wished to be remembered by...but it is what it is.
It's the second year I photograph Mulberry Street during the festival.This time, I chose highly saturated color photographs instead of monochrome as I did in 2019. The festival was not held in 2020 due to Covid 19.
