St. Joseph’s Day

March 19^th is the Catholic celebration of St. Josephs Day and New Orleans Catholics build elaborate altars to honor of this saint. The tradition commemorates the relief St. Joseph provided during a famine in Sicily and began in the late 1800’s during the period when Sicilian immigrants were first settling in New Orleans. Alters are decorated with food with cookies, cakes and breads (often made to resemble shell fish) are common decorations and fava beans (lucky beans) are particularly associated with St. Joseph because they sustained the Sicilians throughout the famine.
The French Quarter St. Josphe’s Day parade is hosted by the American Italian Marching club and is one of the largest ethnic group organizations in the southeast. The evening begins with food, wine and Italian music followed by marchers dressed in black tuxedos proceeding to parade and party until late into the night. The parade marchers have throws consisting of silk flowers and fava beans.
In Jefferson Parish the Irish and Italians combine forces and do a combined St. Patrick’s & St. Joseph’s Day parade at the Louisiana Irish-​Italian Parade. This parade is a larger event with traditional floats, truck floats and marching clubs that follow a route on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie. Throws include beads, cabbage and other vegetables.
St. Joseph’s Day has also been adopted as an important day for the Mardi Gras Indians. The Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian parade the Sunday after St. Joseph’s Day is an important event for this unique NOLA group.
Another tradition in New Orleans that has grown to include groups beyond just Catholics is when you’re having difficulty selling your house then you bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down in your yard and then you receive some divine assistance with completion of the sale. Many New Orleans folks swear that this practice has produced near miraculous results for them.
Like most events in New Orleans St. Joseph’s day is not just for Italian-​Americans and this celebration invites everyone to share in the celebrations and for believers it is a way to express gratitude for any sort of fortune in their lives.