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It's Fiesta Time! |
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Published: June 11, 2008
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Written By: crystalmariecox
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| I asked my friend how St. Peters Fiesta had come about. He said that in the turn of the century many Sicilian men had come over from Sicily, established themselves in Gloucester, became fishermen and continued all of their traditions that were stemmed from home. One of the traditions was to honor and pay reverence to St. Peter who is said to be the saint that protects the fishermen why they were out at sea. To honor St. Peter they would celebrate on the Feast Day of St. Peter which is on June 29th. As the years past the one day celebration had been extended into four days.
From the Navy men, coast guard, harbormasters, and local fishermen, to the recreational/weekend boater and his family, St. Peters Fiesta can be fun and amusing on both land and water. There are a series of activities that go on during this four day fiesta, both on and off land. On land there is a theme park for kids, food vendors on the streets, and Italian music playing all the time. In the water there are the Greasy Pole and Seine Boat races. But considering I was invited on my friends 25ft RIBCRAFT (Rigid Inflatable Boat), which was the best boat for the occasion with roomy deck space and comfortable seating, we attended just the water events.
The first thing we did was anchor next to this raised up dock with a telephone pole sticking out of it called the Greasy Pole. The pole had a foot of grease plopped on it and a flag stuck to the end, hence why it is called the “Greasy” Pole. About a quarter of a mile away from this pole was a beach where all the people without a boat could watch the event. I was told that we had to arrive a couple hours early to get a good view and make sure we had a lot of room to tie up with friends. Thousands of people started to show on the beach, the boulevard behind it, and in the water. We docked up with other RIB’s, which was fantastic because it made it much easier to hop from boat to boat, then started to set up grills and drank some cocktails.
About an hour later I could see three Seine boats coming our way with a crew of about ten men rowing and a coxswain directing them. They headed to the beach, which was so crowded you could barely see the sand, and started to line up. There was an announcer on the beach so that all of the people on their boats could hear what was going on. The boats names were Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. They lined up at the beach and horn went off. They started to race in this in-line water course that was set up using flags on buoys. While the announce narrated, they raced down to a marker that was about a half a mile away and turned back around to the beach. Whoever hit the beach first, won. It was so exciting to watch the in sync movements and the strength that these men had.
Shortly after the Seine Boat races I was told to prepare for the most exciting event of them all, the Greasy Pole. It felt as is they came out of the wood work, 50 men dressed in costumes on the beach were chanting a phrase (the phrase was in Sicilian so I could not understand what they were saying). They then jumped in the ocean and swam to the Greasy Pole, climbed up a side latter, and proceeded to chant. At that moment I knew what was going to happen. Still chanting the men gathered in a huddle prayed and one man would scream a long sentence and the rest would say, “Viva San Pedro! which means long live Saint Peter (I at least could pick that up). One by one the men were called up by the announcers, each dressed in costumes like superman, house maids, and spider man, to walk this greased up pole. The first man went and fell immediately into the water. As the men started to sheer off the grease, walking one right after another, they grew closer to the flag that was at the end. The worst was watching them slip on the pole onto there backs or gentiles and then into the water doing a belly flop. The Greasy Pole went on for about two and a half hours! It was the most exciting thing to watch as the men got closer and closer to grabbing the flag. Finally when someone got to the end and grabbed the flag the crowd went wild and I swear you could hear the boat horns for miles.
After the Greasy Pole we stayed on the boat, partied all night long, and watched fireworks that were set off a park about a half mile away from us.
There is never a dull moment when attending the St. Peters Fiesta. It is truly a fun filled event to bring your friends and family this summer. Viva San Pedro!
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