Fiesta Week: What to Know Before You Go

Saint Peter's Fiesta begins Wednesday, June 24 and runs through Sunday, June 28. If you are staying with us this week, you are here for it whether you planned to be or not. The whole downtown shifts. Streets close. The smell of sausage and peppers carries three blocks. A Ferris wheel goes up in a parking lot you have probably driven past without noticing.

This is not a festival put on for tourists. It is a hundred-year-old neighborhood feast for the patron saint of fishermen, run by the Italian-American families who built the Fort. You are welcome at it. You are also a guest in someone else's tradition, which is part of what makes it worth showing up for.

The shape of the week

The carnival on St. Peter's Square opens Wednesday evening and runs nightly. Rides, games, fried dough, the usual midway. It is loud and bright and full of kids running in packs. Go after dinner, walk through, ride the Ferris wheel for the harbor view at dusk.

Thursday and Friday build slowly. Live bands on the bandstand. The blessing ceremonies. Smaller crowds than the weekend, which is the secret if you want to actually enjoy the food without queuing.

Saturday is the big day. The procession of the statue of Saint Peter moves through the Fort neighborhood in the late morning. Then the seine boat races in the inner harbor in the afternoon, where teams row heavy wooden boats around a course while everyone on the seawall yells. By evening the crowd at the Square is shoulder to shoulder.

Sunday morning brings the outdoor Mass, then the main event: the greasy pole. A telephone pole greased with lard sticks out horizontally over the harbor at Pavilion Beach. Men in costume walk it, fall off, climb the ladder, try again. Whoever grabs the flag at the end wins. It sounds absurd because it is, and it is also one of the most genuinely thrilling things you will see in New England.

Practical notes

Parking downtown will be difficult. If you are staying within walking distance of the Fort, walk. If you are driving in, expect to park further out than usual and add fifteen minutes. The lot behind the Gloucester House fills early on Saturday and Sunday.

Bring cash. Some food booths take cards now, many do not. ATMs in the area have lines.

The greasy pole walk on Sunday draws thousands. To actually see it, get to Pavilion Beach by mid-morning. The seawall fills up first, then the beach itself. Bring a hat. The sun on the water is brutal by noon.

If crowds are not your thing, Friday evening is the sweet spot. You get the lights, the music, the food, and room to move.

What to eat

The Fiesta booths themselves are the answer for the classics: sausage and peppers, fried dough, arancini, zeppole. Eat one of each over the course of the week. This is not the moment for restraint.

If you want a sit-down meal between Fiesta stops, the Italian restaurants in town lean into the week. Causeway Restaurant and Tonno are both close to the action and both will be busy. Reserve where you can. For something quicker, Virgilio's Italian Bakery on Main Street has been feeding this neighborhood for generations. A St. Joseph sandwich eaten on a bench by the harbor is its own kind of Fiesta meal.

For a quieter morning before the day kicks up, Sugar Magnolias opened a new location on Main Street earlier this spring. Pleasant Street Tea Co. or Lone Gull are good if you just need coffee and a place to sit that is not in the middle of a parade route.

The rest of the week, around it

The Rockport Chamber Music Festival is in its second weekend at the Shalin Liu Performance Center. If you want a complete tonal pivot from carnival rides to a string quartet looking out at the Atlantic, that is fifteen miles up the road.

The Rockport Farmers Market runs Saturday morning at Harvey Park, 9am to 1pm. Get there early, then drive down for the seine boat races.

Good Harbor and Wingaersheek will be packed on the weekend. If you are looking for beach time during Fiesta itself, weekday mornings are your friend. Or pick the rocky coves: Half Moon Beach inside Stage Fort Park stays manageable even when the bigger beaches do not.

A word about the spirit of it

Fiesta is celebrated in the shadow of the fishermen's memorial. The names on that bronze plaque are not abstract. Many of them are relatives of the people serving you sausage at the booth. The procession, the blessing of the fleet, the Mass: these are for them. You do not have to be Catholic or Italian or from Gloucester to feel that. You just have to pay attention.

We will see you down there.