Feast of St. Joseph returns to Federal Hill

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — An annual three-day festival in Providence’s Little Italy on Federal Hill honored St. Joseph and celebrated cultural traditions including food and music.

Traditionally held on March 19, the Federal Hill Commerce Association moved the Feast of St. Joseph Festival to June for the first time in 12 years to better represent Italian tradition.

“In Italy he is celebrated close to Father’s Day, because he is the patron saint of fathers as well, so what we did is we tried to move this as close to Father’s Day and make that tradition come alive,” Rick Simone said.

With 50,000 guests expected for the weekend, business owners and vendors used that extra time to prepare.

“We are making sure all the food is set and prepped, drinks, all set up ready for daytime and nighttime,” Café Italia server Danny Feliz said.

Especially for the meatball competition, where the café took second place.

Wally’s Wieners took home the grand prize. with chef Carmine Mottola crediting his grandmother’s secret family recipe.

“I cannot say the recipe, its behind my family from 50 years , maybe, I can say we don’t use just beef, we use beef and veal,” Mottola said.

The biggest draws of the event will be the procession of St. Joseph’s statue, led by new Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, and the zeppolle eating competition.