San Gennaro Feast

Very dirty! Very expensive! But my 4 yr old son was in heaven :) They have a great selection of Mediterranean food from traditional lasagna and meatballs to gyros and fried figs. There are lots of rides for the kids & adults, all the traditional carnival games, and decent live music. Be sure to bring lots of cash, a good amount of patience for the crowds, and wear closed toed shoes! This place is a dirt bowl and very dusty, I couldn’t believe the state of my sandals at the end of the day!

I’ve gotta agree with the poor reviews. My wife and I went on a Saturday around lunch.
Two years ago we were in Manhattan for their San Gennaro festival. I didn’t go in expecting this to compare but I was surprised at the stark contrast.
I was expensive! Even with the coupon it was $ 12 to get in. $ 9 for a poor sausage and pepper sandwich (we didn’t finish it). $ 10 for two beers. The way I look at it I paid $ 31 to get dusty and realize I was in the wrong place. Shoulda spent it on boxing a trifecta!
The one diamond was the old sweet Italian man that was wandering around the food court singing. He didn’t sing to us but we chatted with him for a minute. Boy he had the sweetest smile. Reminded me of my Pop pop.
I’m would never go on a carnie ride, I guess I am just chicken, so I came here for the Italian experience and food. I always feel badly for the animals too.
There is zero «Italian experience» to be had and unfortunately it looks like we just picked a bad vendor. I saw some people carrying around some great looking food. Then again, our sausage and peppers LOOKED great.
The singer when I was there was laughably bad. Khaki docker pants, white sneakers, black shirt, and a voice that fit only a mother could love. Looked like a Seinfeld outfit from the 90’s. Sounds like some other people got to enjoy some better acts. He wasn’t one of the «headliners».
A big part of the turn off was the dirt lot the event was held on. I try to go to a lot of festivals, I really like browsing around, but this one just fell flat. A different location might bring a tiny bit of much needed class to this event.
Good thing that Turf Paradise is a short walk away. Had fun there!

We came here on Saturday afternoon and we thought it was great!
We had coupons so admission was very reasonable. The food in our minds was great! It is not sit down Family owned Italian, but hey it is a festival.!! It was good for that venue. Some of the other reviews say, it was dirty. I have to disagree with that. Yes, it is dusty… It is AZ and it is Spring and the wind blows. What can you do? Any time you take the family out it is very costly. It is much less expensive than the AZ State fair. The best part was the entertainment. As the day went on into evening it was very good. Philly Cuzz, who was great! The Sinatra ‘s (A real Vegas act), Tony Sacca and many more. A lot of the singers were from Italy, a lot from Vegas. Even Louis Prima’s daughter performed.
I thought it was a wonderful effort on everyone’s part. The food was excellent except for the Garlic fries. I do not remember the name of the booth, but it was not too good. But, everything else was fantastic!
Even free parking! Loved it!

We brouoght the family on a Saturday afternoon. We ended up staying till 10:30 at night. It continued on till 12 midnight. We wanted to stay but, just could not.
We had coupons to get in so admission was a really good price. Free Parking, so no complaints there. Friendly people working all around. We walked all around checking out the great food. There was a lot! Many of the vendors came down from Vegas and they were authentic italian cooking and foods. We got 5 differant items of food, bottled water and some Peroni beer. Plus later we got fantastic Cannolies, coffee and exspresso. Fantastico!!!
We even got Italian wedding cookies and pizzallles to go. They have covered tables and chairs so you can sit and eat your lunch or dinner. The entertainment was really good, Italian singers from the North and South Italy. Plus, real Vegas acts. We had a great time. Even donated $$ to San Gennaro himself as they had a statue for dedication. It ends tonight. We thought it was a great time. Arizona does not have too many good festivals, so this is up ther with the best.

Dear god truer words have never been spoken. This was the worst. I starved all day for this? I admit, perhaps a little snooty being Italian from NYC, but hey, I understand this is not NYC. But this was way off. The food was horrible. The place was filthy. I couldn’t get in the shower fast enough. The people at the gate were just rude. I’ll never go back. Yes, the woman with the cookies was wonderful. Worth checking her out. Cannoli’s were great. But this was far from an Italian festival. I also plopped 150 bucks in 2 hours. This was a carney con!