Each year during the last weekend of August, crowds gather in Boston's compact North End for St. Anthony's Feast, an outdoor festival of food, music and Italian-American culture.
Visitors eat Italian-styled dishes from pasta to lobster claw pastries — served at over 100 street vendors — watch cooking demonstrations, and enjoy live musical performances. Although food is often a focal point for both tourists and residents, at the heart of the Feast is a Catholic tradition honoring St. Anthony of Padua, a Franciscan priest known as the patron saint of lost items.
Started in 1919 by Italian immigrants from the town of Montefalcione, it is now the largest religious festival in New England. On Sunday, the final day of the festival, a 10-hour procession anchored by a statue of St. Anthony moved through the neighborhood. It made various stops along the route, allowing donations to be pinned to the statue. This year's slogan in honor of the festival's centennial was "Celebrating 100 Years of Faith, Family, Community, & Tradition."
