Bayonne's St. Vito's Festival Draws Crowds

BAYONNE, NJ - The procession led by the Knights of Columbus, members of the Bridgemen, and members of the Bayonne Heritage Association made the block-long trek down 5th Street and Avenue C to the stage set up on the corner of Broadway, kicking off the St. Vito’s Festival on June 22.

While the event was billed as the “first,” for residents with long enough memories, the festival was a call back to the kind that date back well into the last century, when Italians were the predominant group of immigrants calling the southernmost part of Hudson County home.

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In the past, these festivals had a number of different sponsors but were strongly associated with the Church of the Assumption dating back to the 1920s and later, in the 1970s, with the Catholic War Veterans post.

The Bayonne Heritage Association, Councilman Neil Carroll told TAPinto Bayonne, was key to restoring the Italian festival in Bayonne, and will likely also resurrect a commemoration in the fall bearing the title of Italian Heritage Day in place of the controversial tribute to Columbus.

The feast honored St. Vito, also known as Vitus, a Sicilian martyr who lived from 290 to 303, but also celebrated the Italian heritage that has been a huge influence in Bayonne over the last century, and included a number of musical acts such as headliner Blaise Biagio, as well as Italian food vendors, a beer garden, bounce houses and other attractions.

Among the vendors was Picture Perfect Creations based in Sussex, a relatively new business whose owner said they heard about the business via social media and a family member who residents in Bayonne,

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More locally, Jojewells Jewelry and Hi Goose Studio, both Bayonne based businesses, showed off their wares, including vintage clothing to the enthusiastic crowd, while James, a collector for more than 15 years, dutifully worked his stand that included everything from baseball cards and rock memorabilia to items associated with Taylor Swift, his granddaughter’s favorite.

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