Annual Ferragosto festival returns to Little Italy this Sunday, 20K attendees expected

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Commedia dell’arte, a renaissance-era style of street performance, is a just one of the several entertainers on hand during the 27th annual Ferragosto along Arthur Avenue on Sunday, Sept. 8.
Photo courtesy Belmont BID

Ferragosto, an ancient Italian celebration that literally translates to “the festival of Augustus,” gets its name from the eponymous Roman Emperor who ruled from 27 B.C. until his death in 14 A.D and who also named the festival after himself.

Celebrated in Italy on Aug. 15, Ferragosto marks a month-long festival of food, drink and revelry. In the small enclave of the Bronx’s Little Italy, locals celebrate it the weekend after Labor Day and this year, it’s being celebrated for the 27th time on Sunday, Sept. 8.

From noon to 6 p.m., Arthur Avenue will be closed from 187th Street to Crescent Avenue, where tens of thousands of people will gather while live entertainment plays on a stage at and the smell of sausages, pizza and fried dough fills the air.

“Normally, we have over 20,000 people,” Frank Franz, board member of the Belmont BID, told the Bronx Times.

Although the festival began in the Bronx in 1997, the Italian history of the borough goes much further. In the late Nineteenth Century, America saw a mass wave of European migration and then again in the early 1900s.

“[And] when the Third Avenue El expanded to Fordham Road in 1901, many of these Italian families made their way northward, [adding] to the already growing Italian population of Belmont,” wrote Arturo Viale in his book “Cent’Anni Arthur Avenue: From Civil War to Social Distancing. A Ten Decade Walk Through America’s Favorite Neighborhood.”

Today, Little Italy is more like Little Albania, with several Hispanic families and business in the community. But Ferragosto isn’t about heritage as much as it is about tradition and neighborhood pride.

“It’s that sense of community and these are places where people care about one another and it’s a nice feeling,” said Franz.

According to the Belmont BID, Ferragosto sees more than 20,000 visitors a year.Photo courtesy Belmont BID

More than 20 local businesses will be selling their goods, including Teitel Brothers, the oldest retailer in the neighborhood which has been doling out fresh meats, cheeses and olives since 1915. Mario’s restaurant, which has also been in the area for over 100 years and Sallate Fruit & Juices, the newest kid on the block which opened this summer.

The day will kick off with opening remarks by the BID, followed by both the Italian and American national anthem, the latter performed by the master of ceremonies, Nick Vero, who is hosting for the tenth time.

At 12:45 p.m., the commedia dell’arte troupe, Department of Fools, will kick off their renaissance-era performance along the route, with their masks of antiquity, until 4:45 p.m. Musical performances will play on the stage at 186th Street between Arthur and Hughes avenues throughout the day.

All ages are welcome and will be greeted with that old school Italian hospitality complete with thick New York accents and large grins.

Franz added, “I want people to leave with that warm and fuzzy feeling.”


Reach ET Rodriguez at etrodriguez317@gmail.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes