One of my favorite events is finally here, the Feast of San Gennaro has finally come back to town! If you’re a true New Yorker, you will always find a way to go to this wonderful festival. This year is very special because it is the 100th festival! San Gennaro is one of the many reasons why I loved growing up in New York City. I have made so many wonderful memories going with my friends and family that I have loved so much. It has honestly become such a tradition for me because while others only go once, I go two or three times depending on the week the festival lands on. Since I’ve been going to the festival for such a long time, it would be nice to think about what you should do to make it a fun experience instead of always being so stressed because of how many people go each year. I know that I always want to eat well and enjoy my time at San Gennaro, so I hope some of these tips will help you if you plan on going.
Research Food Ahead of Time
My number one rule is to know at least the main food item I want to get at the festival. Now, there are a lot of food options to choose from when going to San Gennaro, but it can get overwhelming when you see so many vendors because you either don’t know what to eat or you just think, I need to try to get as much food as I can. Trust me, I would love to just run and grab all of the food, but we have to remember that there are a lot of people that want the same food, and it isn’t going to be cheap. That’s why I always think about what food is there beforehand so I can figure out what I am in the mood to eat. And just because you can’t get all of the food you want to eat doesn’t mean your experience is a failure. If you can’t get certain food items one year, you always have the next year. It’s more fun to try something new every year rather than getting the same food, it makes going to the festival more fun and exciting. The best way to do research is looking on TikTok because you can look at San Gennaro videos throughout the years to see what food vendors stick around. On the first and second day of the festival, you get new videos showing some of the new food vendors that you can check out. Once you know what food to get, you’re already on the right track to have a great experience at the San Gennaro Feast.
Best Time to Go
Now, this one is very important to me because as a person who gets oversimulated with a lot of people around me, I worry about the crowds when going to the festival. However, thanks to my mom, we figured out what times worked for us to go. Honestly, go as early as possible. I personally try to get there as soon as the festival opens. Why? People are at work or at school, so that means not a lot of people would be at the festival right away. It will take some time before it actually starts to get more crowded. If there’s not a lot of people, then it’s easier to walk around and the best part of it all is that the lines won’t be so long. You can take your time to look around, look at the menus closely, and you won’t struggle or be stressed when you’re ready to order your meal. After a few hours, it will start to get crowded, mainly around 1 or 2 p.m. depending on the day. I know everyone can’t make it so early, even I can’t sometimes, but if you ever get the chance to go earlier, try it and see how you feel afterwards because I promise you, it is worth it.
Bring a Friend or Family
I’m not saying you can’t go alone to the festival, but it is always more fun and much better to go with a friend or a family member. It would be more boring if you don’t have someone to go with. You’ll have someone to walk around with, to share food with, have someone tell you some of their favorite food vendors for you to try, and you get to share lots of laughs and memories with the people you love. Not to mention, having someone with you is always important for safety reasons. Having someone to go to the festival isn’t just more fun, it’s to make sure everyone is safe and has no problems because we’re just trying to have a nice outing and an enjoyable time.
What Days to Go
It is key to have a perfect day to go to the festival so that the crowds won’t be such a problem when you go. At the end of the day, San Gennaro will always be crowded because it does happen only once a year, so people go and take advantage of it while it’s here. However, there are days that are better to go because the crowds won’t be as bad. I personally think that the best day to go is any day from Monday to Thursday. Think about it, if a mall is packed from Friday to Sunday because that is when people have more time off and have the chance to go, imagine it with an anticipated festival that comes only one time throughout the whole year. In my personal experience, when I had no choice but to go between Friday and Sunday, I was overwhelmed and was questioning my choices on going. However, when I go between Monday and Thursday, I don’t get as overwhelmed, even when I have no choice but to go after my classes. You get more of a chance to walk around and decide what food you want to get, and with it not being as crowded compared to other days; it’s definitely worth going between Monday and Thursday. I know not everyone can go during those days, but even though I prefer to go as soon as the festival opens, you could still go at any time during those days and have a great experience.
Have Fun
I think this last one is obvious, but it’s important to remind yourself to have fun when you go to the Feast of San Gennaro. I feel like some people may get too overstimulated to go to the festival because they get stressed due to not knowing what to get, where to go, having so many people around, and just wanting to have a good experience like they see on social media. We have to remember though, going to San Gennaro is supposed to be about having fun, creating memories, trying new foods, and so much more. I always had the best memories of going with my mom because me and her are such big foodies; we always want to eat and try new foods. These past few years, I’ve really been enjoying going more often with my mom on one day and going with friends on other days. It’s important to figure out what days and times are best for you to go, where you want to go, figure out what food you want to get, and much more, but don’t overthink it too much or else you’re going to be more stressed than excited. Hopefully this little guide will be useful to some so that they can prepare their trip to the festival. Head on over to Little Italy right now to go to the 100th Feast of San Gennaro so you can eat, explore, and create amazing memories.