If you want to see Boston’s North End at its loudest, most colorful, and most delicious, plan your trip around St. Anthony’s Feast Boston. Held every year on the last weekend of August, this Italian festival has been running since 1919 and is now the largest Italian religious festival in New England. It’s part tradition, part street party, and completely unforgettable.
Here’s everything you need to know before you go—what to expect, what to eat, and how to survive the crowds.
St. Anthony’s Feast is an annual celebration honoring Saint Anthony of Padua, hosted by Boston’s Italian-American community. What started as a neighborhood religious procession has grown into a four-day festival that takes over the entire North End.
Think:
Confetti parades down Hanover Street
Live music and performances on outdoor stages
Endless rows of food stalls serving Italian street food
Decorative lights strung across every corner
Crowds of people shoulder to shoulder, eating, laughing, and celebrating
It runs Thursday through Sunday, ending in a massive Sunday procession where the statue of Saint Anthony is carried through the streets. It’s also one of the highlights in my Unforgettable Boston Festivals roundup.
The festival always takes place the last weekend in August. If you’re visiting Boston during this time, it’s worth experiencing. But be warned—if you were hoping for a quiet North End pasta dinner, this is not the weekend. Restaurants are slammed, streets are packed, and the vibe is more block party than cozy trattoria.
My advice:
For the full festival energy, go Saturday night.
For slightly fewer crowds, try Thursday or Friday evening.
For the procession, be there on Sunday.
Honestly, this is what you came for. The food stalls line the streets and the hardest part is deciding where to start. Expect everything from traditional Italian classics to carnival-style eats.
Must-tries include:
Sausage and peppers sandwiches – smoky, spicy, and piled high on fresh rolls.
Arancini (rice balls) – crispy on the outside, cheesy on the inside.
Zeppole – Italian fried dough covered in powdered sugar. Messy but worth it.
Cannoli – yes, the famous Boston cannoli debate (Mike’s vs. Modern vs. Bova’s) is still in play, even during the feast.
Pizza by the slice – some vendors sell it street-side, but if you can, pop into Regina’s or Ernesto’s for the real deal.
Limoncello spritz or Italian sodas – to cool off in the summer heat.
Pro tip: Go hungry and share everything so you can try more.
Besides eating (which let’s be honest, is 80% of the festival), there’s plenty of entertainment:
Live music and bands on outdoor stages bring a nonstop party vibe.
The procession on Sunday is the most traditional part—locals pin dollar bills to the statue of St. Anthony as it makes its way through the streets.
Vendors and stands sell everything from Italian flags to t-shirts to religious icons. It’s part food crawl, part shopping spree.
Arrive early. Streets get packed by evening.
Bring cash. Many vendors don’t accept cards.
Expect crowds. This isn’t the night for a quiet romantic stroll—it’s shoulder-to-shoulder energy.
Wear comfortable shoes. You’ll be walking and standing a lot.
Plan your dinner elsewhere if you want a sit-down meal. North End restaurants are slammed. Either embrace the street food or eat outside the neighborhood.
St. Anthony’s Feast Boston is the North End turned up to eleven. It’s loud, chaotic, and crowded—but that’s the point. You’re stepping into a century-old tradition where food, faith, and community collide in the most delicious way possible.
If you’re visiting Boston in late August and want to see the city’s Italian heritage come alive, this is it. Just don’t expect to sit quietly with a glass of wine and a plate of pasta—this weekend is about eating in the street, dancing to live music, and soaking up the North End at its most festive.
Visiting from out of town? Make it a weekend with my 2-Day Weekend in Boston Itinerary.
A hotel that’s also a free 24-hour contemporary art museum penguins included. We booked a Corner Suite at 21c and it was massive: separate bedroom, living room, dining area, 699 square feet to spread out in. The bathroom alone had a double vanity and custom Rookwood Pottery tile that made getting ready weirdly entertaining.
The location is downtown, two minutes from Fountain Square, walkable to Boca for dinner, and close enough to hop the free streetcar into Over-the-Rhine. If OTR is where most of your plans are, you might want to stay closer to that neighborhood instead downtown worked for us, but we spent more time in OTR than we expected to.
And yes, there’s a recycled-plastic penguin sculpture that will absolutely scare you the first time you open your door and forget it’s there. Link in bio for the full review rooms, parking, walkability, and everything else before you book 🎨
Three neighborhoods, one streetcar, and more Cincinnati specialties than I could finish in one afternoon.
We hit a goetta breakfast sandwich, chocolate chip ice cream from a shop that’s been at it since 1870, a Liège waffle that earned its Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives spot, and Cincinnati chili the way it’s actually meant to be eaten... over a hot dog, buried in shredded cheddar.
$75 got us three and a half hours, a local guide, free streetcar rides, and a genuinely full stomach. Don’t eat breakfast before this one, the portions add up fast.
My third Secret Food Tour in my third city, and it’s still undefeated.
Link in bio for the full review cost, route, parking, and every stop we hit 🥟🌶️
13 creek crossings, a canyon that keeps closing in around you, and a hike I’d genuinely put back on my itinerary, West Fork Trail was the one.
We got to Call of the Canyon at 7:15am and the lot was barely a quarter full. By 12:30 it was 85% full, so if there’s one tip that matters most, it’s this: go early.
The maintained trail is 6.6 miles round trip, mostly flat, mostly shaded, but I kept my regular tennis shoes dry the whole way by hopping across the rocks at each crossing. It’s rated moderate, and honestly that’s about the distance, not the terrain.
Here’s what nobody tells you though ✨ the maintained trail isn’t the end. We changed into water shoes at the official endpoint and kept going another mile straight through the creek, canyon walls narrowing around us the whole time. That extra mile ended up being my favorite part of the entire hike.
5/5 for me. I’d bring the water shoes again in a heartbeat.
Link in bio for the full guide parking, timing, what to pack, and everything I wish I knew before I went 🥾
Two hours, zero regrets. The Pink Jeep Broken Arrow Tour is hands down one of the most fun things we did in Sedona.
Open-air Jeeps crawling over slickrock, backcountry views you can’t reach on your own, and the famous Road of No Return, steep, thrilling, and somehow completely safe the whole way down.
If you’re picking one paid activity in Sedona, make it this one.
You have to do @pinkjeeptours 🌵🚙 Link in bio for the full review.
Dinner beside Oak Creek at Cress, and yes, it’s a splurge, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.🤍
Candlelit tables under the trees, the creek running right beside us, a menu that mixes Arizona ingredients with French technique. We ordered a little of everything: the squash and beet salad, milk rolls with three different butters, sweet potato gnocchi that somehow felt light instead of heavy. Then two desserts because we couldn’t decide. The Vanilla Crème Caramel with Manchego cheese completely stole the show, salty and sweet in a way that sounds strange until you taste it.
Plan on $100–250 for two depending on what you order, and this isn’t the spot for a quick casual dinner, it’s slow, intentional, and worth every minute. Book ahead and ask for a creekside table if you can.
If you’re looking for one unforgettable meal in Sedona, this is it. Link in bio for the full review 🍽️
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