St. Peter's Fiesta is a five-day festival honoring the patron saint

Patron saint

A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

 of the fisherman, St. Peter. The festival is put on by the Italian American

Italian American

An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...

 community of Gloucester

Gloucester, Massachusetts

Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. The festival involves a carnival, seine boat races and the Greasy Pole contest, and attracts people from all over.

History

The festival began in 1927 when a life-sized statue of St. Peter was enshrined by fishermen in the heart of the Italian district in Gloucester. The fishermen and their families began to pray to their patron saint, and soon plans of a religious procession on June 29 came about. This procession grew to the festival it is today.