Every year during mid-September “The Feast of all Feasts” is held in Little Italy of New York City. This year will be the 96th annual Feast of San Gennaro which will take place from September 15 to September 25. This event originally started in 1926 when Neapolitan immigrants chose to host a single day block party in honor of their savior, Saint Gennaro. What started as a one-day local event for a small immigrant community has blossomed into a world known annual 11-day feast filled with tons of food, music, activities, etc. open to the public. While a lot of people attend the Feast of San Gennaro for the food and festivities, many may not know about the significance Saint Gennaro has on Italians, specifically Neapolitans, as a protector and someone they pray to in times of need. Having never gone to this event in the past and only hearing about it through social media or walking by, I never stopped to learn about the cultural significance of this event. However, it is amazing to now learn that this event is nearly a century old and still continues to celebrate Saint Gennaro with the world.
The past couple of years, New York City has been experiencing the hardships of COVID-19, especially in the restaurant business. Although I don’t know how much of an impact the pandemic had on the Feast of San Gennaro the past two years, I’m sure that this year will bring even more people with the new relaxed protocols. Since this is an event open to the public, I shouldn’t have any issues covering the feast. When covering this event, I hope to capture the full and crowded experience of the Feast of San Gennaro like in the past. More specifically I’d like to speak with different restaurant stands and hear about their experience with the feast over the years. I would also like to speak with different visitors of the feast, whether they’re tourists, regular annual visitors, or even local newcomers to document their firsthand experiences with the festivities. I anticipate getting a diverse set of visuals including the restaurant stands selling food to the customers, visitors enjoying the food and festivities, some of the cultural processions, etc. All these visuals will have many colors, layers and provide the different perspectives of the lively feast. Overall, I hope to capture the diverse impact of the Feast of San Gennaro on the worldwide community.