“Viva San Rocco!” It’s the last weeks of summer in Italian America, and in neighborhoods across the country, paesani are celebrating the Feast of Saint Rocco, one of the most venerated saint days in the Italian American year. For our part, we’re sitting down with Stephen La Rocca, president of the St. Rocco Society of Potenza, to discover more about this saint and the feast that has been held in his honor every August in New York City since 1889.

As one of the oldest continuous Italian American celebrations in the United States, there’s plenty of fascinating history behind this unique tradition, and we’ll follow the feast day from its origins, to its near extinction, through two relocations within the city, and into its continuing growth into what is today one of New York’s most well-attended feasts!