First-Ever San Gennaro Festival Kicks Off In Danbury Wednesday

DANBURY, CT — A little bit of Little Italy comes to Danbury for five days, beginning Wednesday.

The city's first-ever San Gennaro Festival will play out along Ives Street through Sunday, beginning every day at 1 p.m. except Wednesday, when festivities will commence at 5 p.m. The party will continue to 11 p.m. each night except Sunday, when the festival shutters an hour earlier.

The festival was cancelled last August when Danbury was in the midst of a spike in COVID-19 infections. With pandemic restrictions in the rearview mirror, it's finally time for Hat City to get its zeppole on.

In addition to that fried dough festival staple, organizers promise a wide menu of Italian foods, as well as meatball and cannoli eating contests. Beer and wine will be available, as will amusement park rides, fair games and a dunk tank. There are even laser light shows scheduled for 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Rock bands The Zoo and The Dilemma will headline on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively, and organizers are promising a DJ will provide a mix of traditional Italian music whenever a live band is not on stage.

Parking for the San Gennaro Festival will be available at Patriot Garage at 1 Patriot Way, Bardo Garage at 10 Library Place, the Danbury Rail Museum parking lot, Western Connecticut State University's 5th Avenue parking garage.

With the exception of Wednesday and Thursday, there will be a shuttle running every 15 minutes from the 5th Avenue garage to the festival during the following times:

• Friday 5:00 - 11:30 p.m.
• Saturday 1:00 - 11:30 p.m.
• Sunday 1:00 - 10:30 p.m.

If you can't make it out to Ives Avenue, there will be a livestream online here.

The procession of the statue of Saint Gennaro, martyr and patron of Naples, will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The festival got its start early in the 20th century, when Neapolitan immigrants who had settled around Mulberry Street in Manhattan began throwing their now world-famous annual weeklong block party to commemorate the saint's feast day.