The Piedigrotta Feast in Naples

Author: Serena

- September -

The Piedigrotta Feast is a very ancient Naples event inherited from the Borbone family and it usually took place between the 7th and the 8th of September in honor of the Holy Mary’s Birth.

A characteristic of this feast was the competition among local singers and so these event became during the XIX century the cradle of the classical Naples song.

Now the local municipality is used to organize a new version of this feast made up by the illuminations placed in the Piedigrotta Street, by the firecrackers announcing the beginning of celebrations on the morning, by the allegorical floats parade on the seafront and by which one of children wearing paper cloths, by the concert in the Plebiscito Square and by the nightly fireworks show on the sea.

The illuminations placed in Piedigrotta Street

The parade made up by children wearing paper cloths

The nightly fireworks show on the Naples sea

However this also is a religious event that recalls the traditional September pilgrimage towards Santa Maria di Piedigrotta church.

The Church of Santa Maria di Piedigrotta

Even the musical show is now highlighted with a big concert in the Plebiscito Square that has been always characterized by the presence of important Italian and international singers like Massimo Ranieri and Bryan Ferry.

The Piedigrotta Feast 2009 has been dedicated to Futurism with ten allegorical floats and with an exhibition in the Royal Palace. This last edition has also been characterized by the presence of John Turturro (who was making in the city his last movie entitled “Neapolitan Songs”) and by the concert of Elton John in the Plebiscito Square.