Ferragosto 2023 in the Bronx: Fewer tourists, lots of Italian neighborhood flair

New Yorkers know – and, if they’re averse to commotion and crowds, may even dread – the annual San Gennaro festival in Manhattan’s Little Italy. They know funnel cake, the Ferris wheel, and the sausage and peppers clogging arteries for countless visitors south of Houston Street.

But far fewer visitors make the pilgrimage to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx’s Little Italy for the annual Ferragosto festival. Those who know about this decidedly local experience will head over on Sunday for celebrations that start at noon.

“Anybody who comes to Little Italy in the Bronx, I would never call them tourists,” says Peter Madonia of Madonia Bakery, a family business on Arthur Avenue since 1918. “Because once they come there, they feel a part of something quite authentic.”

Ferragosto is celebrated as a public holiday in Italy. From its beginnings in imperial Rome as a harvest festival and day of rest, the holiday came to encompass the entire mid-August vacation period. For the Italian-American enclave in the Bronx’s Belmont neighborhood, Ferragosto is a one-day affair, more akin to a family reunion than a tourist draw.

And, Madonia said, that might be the biggest difference between visitors’ experience of San Gennaro and Ferragosto.

“I never knock the other guy’s product. Little Italy in Manhattan has its role in the gestalt of New York City,” Madonia said. “But I think we have something different that people seem to enjoy, and we love providing it.”

One favorite tradition was the Commedia Dell’Arte street theater provided by Department of Fools, which offers up that the troupe calls “the masked mayhem of Commedia” — using “humor to address inequities in our society.”

Emcee Nick Vero, a former deputy chief for the sanitation department, is making his 10th appearance, offering up songs as well as stories about his childhood in the Bronx. Vocalist Jenna Espostio will bring her passion for “The Great Italian-American Songbook.” Rocksteady’s got an eclectic approach to music from multiple eras — and its lineup includes multiple members of families who came from Italy through Ellis Island before settling in New York. And its vocalist is often seen as part of the trio The Sicilian Tenors, who are about to release their second PBS special.

Frank Franz grew up in the 1950s, in the house his grandfather built a few blocks away from the site of the festival. He said his neighborhood didn’t feel like New York City at the time.

“It felt like a small town in Italy,” he said. “Nobody had air conditioning, and even if you did, you couldn’t plug it in without blowing a fuse. Everyone came out at night to stay cool and talk to each other. And when the feast came, that was the big thing – you went out and ran into everyone you knew.”

Franz said changing times meant the Catholic Church no longer had the manpower to throw multiple annual feasts. And so, in 1997, the neighborhood business district stepped in with one of its own to celebrate Ferragosto.

While the Ferragosto festival will have its share of food and wine flowing from more than 25 local restaurants and merchants, Madonia said the real draw is the family atmosphere.

“I think that’s the real charm of this is the reunions that happen, not just among families but old friends and people who have come through here,” Madonia said. “That’s something you might notice unless I told you that, but you’ll see a lot of people hugging because they haven’t seen each other since the last Ferragosto.”

Franz, a lifelong New Yorker, said he’s been to most of the city’s festivals — but Ferragosto is different.

”Imagine a friend who invites you to a big party on Christmas Eve with 200 people there,” he said.” You don’t know them all but you know they’re going to be friendly to you because you’re friends with their friend.”

The bulk of the action will take place on Arthur Avenue between East 187th Street and Crescent Avenue. There’s $10 parking available at nearby Fordham University, with a free shuttle running to and from the festival throughout.