The annual San Gennaro Festival got off to a slow start this year, because its opening day was 9/11, but it picked up momentum as the warm weather drew the crowds later in the week.

”Thursday was slow, Friday was better, and Saturday is going great,” said John DeLutro, who has been running Caffé Palermo for 50 years. And he’s been rapidly branching out as he is part of a coalition trying to buy the first vacant property on Mulberry Street in 100 years at the corner of Grand Street.

A tenant made structural changes, causing a partial building collapse on the site at 188 Grand St., and now DeLutro is among those trying to buy the block from the Stabile family. He said he might move his cafe into retail space on the ground floor once a deal is done. But that will have to wait. “I don’t know development, I know cannolis,” he said.

DeLutro, widely known as “Baby John,” is also known as the “Cannoli King” of Little Italy, On the night Straus News visited, he was all business still stirring pasta at an outdoor stand.

“Get a picture of this line,” he said on Sept. 13 as customers queued up outside his stand, whose sign urges “Buy a bowl. Pick your pasta.”

Waiting patiently in the line was Elias R. and his girlfriend Jessica, who actually had the surname Gennaro. “My great-grandparents are from Naples,” she said. “I felt I had to come.”

Elias said, “I’ve been to San Gennaro before. You can’t beat the pepperoni, the pasta, and the zeppoli.”

Scotti Fontes was a little farther down the line. He said he was born in Portugal and lives here now but it was his first time at San Gennaro. “It’s fun,” he said, although he was a little disappointed to find out the drinking age was 21.

He was accompanied by two sisters and his girlfriend, Pardoulno Pol. “There’s a lot of people,” Pardoulno said.

Like many festivals, its roots are a religious celebration.

The gambling and games of chance that once dotted the booths are gone. But San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples, is believed to be a protector of the people, and they still attach money to the statue during the festival to bring luck and raise money for charity—and in recent years to raise money try to save the church. On Sept. 13 there were floats as the statue of San Gennaro was moved from its perch on Baxter Street and up Mulberry Street accompanied by floats and marching bands.

On Friday, Sept. 12, there was a Solemn Mass followed by a procession carrying the statue of San Gennaro, which was placed in a special booth on Mulberry Street to watch over the festival. Joe Piscopo, actor and a former regular on Saturday Night Live, was the grand marshal.

A stage on Grand Street welcomes musicians from all over the tri-state area for performances for the whole family, every night until 10pm.

There is an element of concern hanging over the festival and its onetime parish church. Old-time Little Italy has shrunk as Chinatown has grown. And the parishioners who once filled the churches downtown are long gone. The Shrine at Most Precious Blood no longer holds regular Sunday masses although during the festival its doors are open.

The church itself is now administered by Immaculate Conception Church on East 14th Street. And while no action has been taken, some of the old-timers worry that the Archdiocese of New York, hard pressed for cash itself these days, will sell off the historic 121-year-old church. The archdiocese already sold off the rectory, which would have been the home of the parish priest had it not been for the shortage of priests and the dwindling number of parishioners.

The Archdiocese could not be reached for comment, and calls to Immaculate Conception were not returned.

But for now, the show goes on. If you’re interested in catching some of the food, music, and fun, here’s the full events calendar.