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Feast of San Gennaro

The Feast of San Gennaro (in Italian: Festa di San Gennaro), also known as San Gennaro Festival, is a Neapolitan and Italian-American patronal festival dedicated to Saint Januarius, patron saint of Naples and Little Italy, New York.[1]

His feast is celebrated on 19 September in the calendar of the Catholic Church.[a][3][4]


In the United States, the "Festa of San Gennaro" is also a highlight of the year for New York's Little Italy, with the saint's polychrome statue carried through the middle of a street fair stretching for blocks.

The feast features prominently in the second entry of 's cinematic opus, The Godfather Part II (1974), serving as backdrop to a young Vito Corleone murdering the Don Fanucci character. In The Godfather Part III (1990), Vincent Corleone assassinates Joey Zasa at the festa.

Francis Ford Coppola

It was a crime scene on in the season 2 episode "Corporate Warriors".

CSI: NY

It was also featured prominently in the 1973 movie .

Mean Streets

It is mentioned in the song "Sad Nights" by .

Blue Rodeo

In "" (Season 6 Episode 9 of The Sopranos) Tony, Carmela, and several other members of the family attend a fictitious festival in Newark patterned after this feast. It is the Feast of Elzéar of Sabran which also has a connection with Naples and is celebrated on September 27.

The Ride

Brian Altano tells a story about the (few) differences between the New Jersey festival and the Italian festival in episode 158.

The GameSpy Debriefings

On , when the girls shared stories of how their children were conceived, Sophia Petrillo joyfully recalls how she and her husband Salvador attempted conception of Dorothy behind the sausage and pepper stand due to the excitement of the San Gennaro's festivities, much to Dorothy's dismay.

The Golden Girls

On , the two-part season 4 opener has the characters travelling to New York to attend the festival.

Laverne & Shirley

In the game, magic has brought the statue of San Gennaro to life, and a hero can be sent to fight it.

Marvel: Avengers Alliance

On : season 15 episode 2, a parody of The Godfather II's scene mentioned above.

Family Guy

On Season 4 episode 2, Charles Rhodes is endorsed by the police commissioner, Richie Sansome making it known he is running for Attorney General of New York.

Billions (TV series)

Street vendors selling sausages at the feast

Street vendors selling sausages at the feast

Street Vendors selling cheesesteak sandwiches, sausages and other foods lines the streets

Street Vendors selling cheesesteak sandwiches, sausages and other foods lines the streets

The Offices and Rectory of the Most Precious Blood Church, during the San Gennaro Festival, featuring a shrine to San Gennaro on the left

The Offices and Rectory of the Most Precious Blood Church, during the San Gennaro Festival, featuring a shrine to San Gennaro on the left

A San Gennaro shrine in the courtyard of the Most Precious Blood Church

A San Gennaro shrine in the courtyard of the Most Precious Blood Church

The Feast of San Gennaro along Grand Street in 1981

The Feast of San Gennaro along Grand Street in 1981

– Naples Cathedral

Cathedral of Saint Januarius

– National Shrine Church of San Gennaro in New York

Church of the Most Precious Blood (Manhattan)

Italians in New York City

Patronal festival

Lanzoni, Francesco (1927). (in Italian). Faenza: F. Lega. pp. 254–263.

Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604)

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Official website

. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2022.

"Feast of San Gennaro"

. Seattle. Retrieved 4 October 2022.

"San Gennaro Festival"

. Photo walk. Flickr. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2022.

"Feast of San Gennaro"

Midlin, Alex (15 April 2007). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2022.

"The Socks, the Sausage and the Snub"