The 93rd Annual Saint Anthony’s Feast Begins August 24

Perhaps the most renowned feast in The North End is Saint Anthony’s Feast.

It is the largest of the Italian Religious feasts in New England. “It takes at least a year to prepare for this feast,” President of the San Antonio Di Padova Da Montefalcione, Inc President and owner of Massimino’s Cucina Italiana Paul D’Amore said. “There are about 300,000 people in the streets for three days.”

There are over 100 vendors signed up this year from in state and out of state serving pizza, pasta, zeppole, cannolis, gelato, arachini, sausages, peppers and onions to name a few items as well as souvenirs.

The San Antonio Di Padova Da Montefalcione, Inc. began when a group of men from the mountain town of Montefalcione, Avellino came over in the early years of the twentieth century. The feast in the North End is held at the same time as the feast in Montefalcione.

“The feast began in Boston in 1919,” D’Amore said. “It became a tradition and now it’s a way of life.”

The society is a non-profit organization, which generates their money through sponsorships and through ribbons of money attached to the statue of Saint Anthony, which is paraded through the streets for 10 hours. Once the society reaches their budget, they donate the rest of the money to charity.

“We donate to anywhere from 50 to 75 charities annually,” D’Amore said. “If someone is in need and there is a good reason, and it is documented, we vote on it and donate.”

Everyone is invited to come out on the last weekend in August to celebrate the end of summer and the patron saint of Padua.