As the feast season is upon us, one must look at one of the oldest living feasts in New York City and the oldest in Manhattan, the upcoming feast of Saint Rocco. A preservationist’s dream, the feast of Saint Rocco maintains uninterrupted for 129 years due to the vigilance and devotion shown by the Saint Rocco Society of Potenza, which was established in 1899. Each year, Saint Rocco’s Feast Day is celebrated on August 16th. This year, the feast will be celebrated on August 19th.

To understand how indominable the love and devotion is for this great saint here in New York, the journey that the feast and society have taken must be acknowledged. The story of Saint Rocco’s continuance as a celebration in New York begins in an old Italian Enclave in Manhattan’s lower east side.