San Gennaro festival NYC

[Hidden_Mickey]

Anyone ever been? I've never gone but it sounds fun. What's it like? What does it cost? What is there to do? I checked out the web site but it sounds kinda vague. I'm not into the religious aspect... Just the food, really, lol! It starts today and goes for 10 days. Are there any specific days that are better or worse than others? Any advice or tips would be appreciated. TIA!

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

Bump..... Anyone?

 

[kerrynic78]

I haven't been in probably 10 years but I used to go a lot when I was younger and LOVED it! Great food, music, vendors, definitely a great time!

 

[Sleepy]

Don't have any info, but wanted to say he is our patron saint.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

It's a cultural experience, to say the least. The food is awesome boardwalk/fair food: think deep-fried coronary on a deep-fried bun. And hey, where else can you buy a t-shirt demanding freedom for your favorite incarcerated mob man. Beware, though, it is CROWDED.

 

[java]

I also have not been in YEARS. And I've heard it has shrunken in size since I went.
But it's way fun! Wild fun! After a few drinks I was trying to win a monkey! imagine me bringing that home on the LIRR!

But it's basically an over the top street fair. Religious aspects are still there- but it's mostly food, games and rides kind of thing now.

Have a sausage and pepper hero for me! Oh and some zeppolis! Hey maybe we should go in.

 

[Robinrs]

Man, I used to LIVE for the San Gennaro festival every year! I'd rather eat Italian food than any other kind of food so I was in HEAVEN!!


Here's more info: http://www.sangennaro.org/

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

Yeah, the food is the main draw, lol!

Is it kid friendly? The kids are 9 and 11.

I'm thinking of that scene in Godfather II where the hit is done during the festival.... It was filmed in that neighborhood.

 

[java]

Yeah, the food is the main draw, lol!

Is it kid friendly? The kids are 9 and 11.

I'm thinking of that scene in Godfather II where the hit is done during the festival.... It was filmed in that neighborhood.

Durning the day it's kid friendly at night- eh not so much. And it's super crowded at night- the street is PACKED. I don't know what time it starts during the day though. I would like to know that too.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

The 8th annual cannoli eating competition starts at 2 p.m. today. And it's sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eaters. Who knew there was such an organization?? And now I really want a cannoli.


I know it's open by lunch time because co-workers used to go to it when I worked in Tribeca. I might need to make a trip this weekend because now I really want a cannoli. I wonder if they would miss me if I left early from work today.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

But it's way fun! Wild fun! After a few drinks I was trying to win a monkey! imagine me bringing that home on the LIRR!

I think I tried to win that monkey too!! It was so cute.

 

[FergieTCat]

The 8th annual cannoli eating competition starts at 2 p.m. today. And it's sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eaters. Who knew there was such an organization?? And now I really want a cannoli.


I know it's open by lunch time because co-workers used to go to it when I worked in Tribeca. I might need to make a trip this weekend because now I really want a cannoli. I wonder if they would miss me if I left early from work today.

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Make sure you stop at Ferraras and to get some pastries for the morning!
Anyone else remember the 9 million mixed tape boths? I guess now they have "mixed cds."

The fair is really just a ridiculous amount of food boths all pretty much serving the same thing. It is so packed at night. Think Main Street right after Wishes at park closing.
Have fun and have some zeppolis for me!

 

[GeorgeG]

It's been quite a few years since I've been there. It had already started going downhill back then. To say it was crowded would be an understatement. You could go the entire length of Mulberry St. and never move your feet... it was literally shoulder-to-shoulder and the crowd just moved you along. As Yogi Berra would say, "nobody goes there anymore... it's too crowded."

There were some good Italian food booths, but it seemed to be more Hispanic than Italian in a lot of ways (only important if you're expecting 100% Italian).
Beer sales in the street stop pretty early and the local bars charge a fortune (actual robbery compared to even higher than usual prices). It's better to go when the festival isn't going on.

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

A guy at work told me it's not as good as it used to be but unless the weather really stinks tomorrow, we are going to go. I will post our San Gennaro TR later this weekend!

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

OK, here's my TR:

We took Metro North to GCT, arriving at 12:45 pm. Met my cousin there (she lives in NYC), then took the subway downtown to Little Italy. We had rain coats and umbrellas but it only sprinkled occasionally. We walked around and boy was it crowded! The streets have food stands, games and shops on each side so the walkable section of the streets are narrow. We saw the parade - not a big deal. It was maybe 5 floats plus a police escort. Then we picked a stand to get food - cousin and I had sausage & peppers - yum! DH had a really good calzone, and DD 11 had a meatball sandwich. DS 9 was not hungry. Walked around a little more... they had some cute t-shirts - one was a little baby shirt that said "Momma's Little Meatball" . Then we stopped at a pastry shop for cappuccino and canolis - yum! Then we took the subway up to Times Square. We went to Washington DC for vacation last month and liked the ESPNZone there, had some leftover game cards, so we decided to check it out. We hung out in the arcade for a while, then shared some sliders for dinner. DH wanted a beer. Watched some college football while looking out onto Times Square. It must be cool to be there for a really big game. DH asked me if I would want to come down for New Year's Eve. Uh, NO THANKS. Then we walked up to Rockefeller Center to the Nintendo World store for DS. We played Wii Sports Resort on the demos for a while, looked around and I was surprised all that DS wanted was a Link stuffed toy! Walked back to GCT and took the 8:15 train home. Got home at 9:30, watched Definitely, Maybe. I had no idea it was filmed in NY so it was cool that we saw some stuff that we saw earlier in the day. That's it for my mini San Gennaro TR!