In September of 1926, immigrants from Naples, Italy, held a religious commemoration of Saint Januarius, the Patron Saint of Naples, who was later a martyr for the Catholic faith. The celebration took place in Little Italy, on Mulberry Street in Manhattan. The event would be known as the Feast of San Gennaro. It still continues to this day on Mulberry St. in NYC as an 11 day street festival that draws tourists, vendors, food, music, celebrities and more. 

In 2002, "The Man Show" hosts, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla, and Doug DeLuca founded the Feast of San Gennaro in Los Angeles. I happened to be invited to the 2015 Feast of San Gennaro in LA by a new friend, Vin Cecere. Vin and I met on the set of a small Sci-Fi film, RUST back in September of 2014. He served as the film's stunt coordinator. He later invited me to capture a few shots of his jui-jitsu class in Van Nuys, CA. Vin's a great martial arts instructor, a comedian, actor, and all around good guy. He said I should come down to Hollywood this day and check out the Feast.

Early on I found Vin. He's one of the most positive and upbeat people I've ever met: 

One takeaway from the day was learning that Vin is a pretty popular and loved guy. He seemed to know every vendor, staff member, passer-by or municipal officer personally:

As part of the original Feast of San Gennaro, the one back in 1926 in Manhattan, a statue of St. Januarius would be on display at the festival/fair. Guests of the Feast were asked to pin a small donation onto the ribbon streamers that were a part of the statue's apron. 

In keeping with the tradition, a statue or bust of St. Januarius was present at the LA Feast and Vin had the honor of being among the men who would carry the bust down Hollywood Blvd in a small street parade. 

After the bust was secure and in the air, they hoisted it to Hollywood Blvd and took part of the parade...

Afterward, there was plenty more music, dancing and eating, but I'll end the post here, because I set the camera down and started to enjoy some of the festivities.

It was a really fun afternoon and I'm thankful to Vin for inviting me and showing me something new. 

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