Known for its powdered zeppoles, games and fun, the St. Ann’s Festival opened Saturday, July 20. "The feast," as it’s known, takes place at Seventh and Jefferson through Friday, July 26.
The festival celebrates the nine-day Novena (July 17th-25th) honoring St. Ann, the mother of the Virgin Mary, and the patron saint of pregnant women (the birth of Mary to St. Ann was considered a miracle because St. Ann was thought to have been too old to conceive). During the Novena, devotees ask the Saint for intercession so that their prayers may be answered.
The Novena culminates in an 11 a.m. Mass on the final day of the festival, followed by the five-and-a-half hour (until a few years ago it was seven hours) procession, during which the 600-pound statue is carried through the streets by the women of the St. Ann’s Guild. (The "bombs" that go off when the statue leaves the church and when it re-enters may frighten dogs all over the city.) In a tradition that dates back to the first Feast, held in 1910, pregnant women sometimes accompany the statue in their bare feet as an expression of their devotion to the Saint.
Father Francis Sariego of the Church of St. Ann calls the festival "one big religious block party," but he stresses that spirituality, devotion to St. Ann and the Church, parish loyalty, and
family values are the forces behind the festivities. The church, he says, wants the festival to remain a "neighborhood feast" so that it doesn’t become a "carnival" in which these values are forgotten. Many of the parishioners, he says, see the statue as the personification of St. Ann, and emotions can run high in her presence. The hard work required to set up, run, and break down the festival is done out of faith in and love for the saint.
Ronald Reagan stopped by
The St. Ann’s festival is unquestionably an Italian affair (the Parish was established in 1900 by immigrants who came from Monte San Giacomo, Italy, and settled in Hoboken and the surrounding areas), but, Father Francis says, care is taken to ensure that the entertainment at the festival is ethnically and socially diverse. (Of the estimated 150,000 people who came to the feast last year, it can be assumed that some were not Italian. Ronald Reagan, who attended back in the 1980’s, was definitely not.)
It can also be safely said that not everyone who attends does so out of piety. They may come for the rides, the games of chance, the St. Ann’s Guild zeppoles (the recipe is a closely-guarded secret), the beer garden, the music, or the whole magical feeling of an Italian-style celebration.
Schedule
The hours of the festival will vary each day. To get them, check out www.st-annchurch.com. Additional information may be obtained by calling (201) 659-1114.
As of press time, the schedule of entertainment for the week is as
follows:
Saturday, July 20 – Brooklyn Keys (7:30-8:30 p.m.), Sounds of the Supremes (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
Sunday, July 21 – The Nerds (8:30-11:00 p.m.)
Monday, July 22 – Lenny Cocco and the Chimes (8:30-11:00 p.m.)
Tuesday, July 23 – Andy Montanez (Latino Night) (8:30-11:00 p.m.) Wednesday, July 24 – Flying Mueller Brothers (8:30-11:00 p.m.)
Thursday, July 25 – Tribute to the Beatles (8:30-11:00 p.m.)
Friday, July 26 – Jordan Thomas Orchestra (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
July 20-July 26 – Karaoke Nights.