The Feast of St. Anthony is celebrated every year in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts on the weekend of the last Sunday in August. The feast has been celebrated since 1919 when a group of Italians from

Montefalcione Montefalcione (Irpino: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. The town lies on a hill which at its summit is above sea level. In 1861 it was the location of a revolt against the newly f ...

settled in the North End of Boston. They began a society called the Sant'Antonio Di Padova Montefalcione which devoted their honor to their

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

. People come from all across the world to see the decorated streets and parade dedicated to St. Anthony. ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

'' christened St. Anthony’s feast as “The feast of all feasts”. The Italians wanted to keep their heritage strong in America so they continued to celebrate the feast as they did in Italy. In Italy it is common to celebrate festivals and feasts for the Catholic religion, each saint having their own day. This feast includes food and shopping stands, games for children, live performances, and a parade. Feast_of_St

Concessions

The side streets of the North End are filled with 100 different push carts including food, such as

arancini Arancini (, , , ) are Italian rice balls that are stuffed, coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried, and are a staple of Sicilian cuisine. The most common arancini fillings are: ''al ragù'' or ''al sugo'', filled with ragù (meat or mince, slow-c ...

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

peppers Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

and

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

quahog The hard clam ('' Mercenaria mercenaria''), also known as the round clam, hard-shell (or hard-shelled) clam, or the quahog, is an edible marine bivalve mollusk that is native to the eastern shores of North America and Central America from Prince ...

s, calamari,

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, on ...

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ...

, and of course

zeppole A zeppola (; plural: zeppole; sometimes called frittelle, and in Sardinia the italianized ''zippole'' or ''zeppole sarde'' from the original Sardinian ) is an Italian pastry consisting of a deep-fried dough ball of varying size but typically ...

cannoli Cannoli (; scn, cannola ) are Italian pastries consisting of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling containing ricotta—a staple of Sicilian cuisine. They range in size from . In mainland Italy, they are ...

and

gelato Gelato (; ) is the common word in Italian for all kinds of ice cream. In English, it specifically refers to a frozen dessert of Italian origin. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6%–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styl ...

. There are also many famous restaurants that people flock to during this feast, such as Pizzeria Regina,

Bova's Bakery Bova's Bakery is a bakery in the North End of Boston, United States. History Founded by Italian immigrant Antonio Bova on Salem Street (but across the street from its current location) in 1926, they specialized only in bread. It eventually added ...

and Mike's Pastries. People will wait in line for hours to indulge in delicious pastries or a mouth-watering

brick oven A masonry oven, colloquially known as a brick oven or stone oven, is an oven consisting of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, clay (clay oven), or cob (cob oven). Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were c ...

-made pizza. In addition to these food carts there are also carts for many different shopping items, mostly reflecting the Italian heritage. Stands similar to carnival games are set up for the children, giving this feast something that each member of the family can enjoy.

Procession of the Saint

The main event is a 10-hour-long

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

, in which a statue of St. Anthony is carried through the streets of the North End; it is followed by devotees, numerous

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, o ...

s, and floats. Throughout the 10-hour-long procession numerous donations are pinned to the statue, in hopes that the saint will answer the donor's prayer as the band performs Marcia Reale.

References

* Rion, James. "St. Anthony's Society of Boston's North End". San Antonio Di Padova Da Montefalcione, Inc. April 16, 2009

External links

Official website

2013 opening ceremony on Youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feast Of St. Anthony August events Italian-American culture in Boston Recurring events established in 1919 North End, Boston Annual events in Boston 1919 establishments in Massachusetts

Concessions

Procession of the Saint

See also

References

External links