St. Peter’s Fiesta kicks off Wednesday in Gloucester

St. Peter’s Fiesta begins on Wednesday, and beyond the strict definition of a five-day event to honor the patron saint of fishermen, the celebration has numerous meanings to locals — alternately a party, a reunion, or a time for deep introspection.

This year marks the 84th year since Salvatore Favazza commissioned a statue, and placed it in a storefront window one June evening. What followed was strictly Old Country Sicilian etiquette. Women gathered each night in front of the storefront and began to sing praises to St. Peter, and other biblical leaders — and Gloucester’s St. Peter’s Fiesta was born.

Over the years, standard practices were set in place: Women hold a novena, teams of men carry the statue in processions throughout the downtown, an outdoor Mass is held downtown on Sunday morning, the cardinal of the Archdiocese of Boston blesses the fishing fleet, and teens, men, and women take part in seine boat races and greasy pole contests.

Those events will return in the coming days, along with live music, a 5K road race, a block dance, a basketball tournament, a children’s piñata contest, and a final procession — which calls for the statue to be lifted from a temporary altar in a downtown parking lot and carried back to the St. Peter’s Club.

“It’s the biggest event in Gloucester,’’ said Joe Novello, president of the Fiesta Committee. Novello said this year’s fiesta will be dedicated to four former fishermen who died this year: Steve Amaral, Jack Bono, Joe Cracchiolo, and Peter Prybot.

For Bea Coaramitaro, who helps coordinate the nine days of prayer to St. Peter that ends on Tuesday, the meaning of the fiesta has remained constant. “We pray to St. Peter for all he’s done for the fishermen, and a lot of our prayers for the sick have been answered,’’ said Coaramitaro, who is the granddaughter of the fiesta’s founder, Favazza.

While the fishing community has been hit hard in recent decades by federal regulations implemented to rebuild groundfish stocks, Coaramitaro believes her prayers will help return Gloucester’s harbor as the busiest fishing port in the nation. “Everything goes in a circle, and we pray for the fishing industry to come back,’’ she said.

While there were about 30 arrests last year — mostly for disorderly conduct — Police Chief Michael Lane said dozens of officers will be on the streets this week to help keep order. Lane said his officers — along with members of other Cape Ann police departments, and law enforcement officers from the State Police and the Essex sheriff’s office — will have a “no tolerance’’ policy toward public drinking, underage drinking, and fighting.

The fiesta will hit an emotional peak over the weekend, when seine boat races and greasy pole contests are held, along with the outdoor Mass and statue procession. Crowds regularly exceed 5,000 at some events.

One of the most storied contests on the agenda is the greasy pole walk. This will be the 80th year since the contest was introduced by a group of Sicilian fishermen who settled in Gloucester. These days, a handful of the contest founder’s relatives still run the walk, including Tom Favazza.

Favazza, who is 48 and owns an air-conditioning company, grew up in the Fort Neighborhood where the fiesta is held. He likens the act of walking above the Atlantic along a greasy pole with the hopes of capturing a flag to the job of fishing in rough seas.

“The greasy pole is like a fisherman’s job. It’s high risk, low reward, and a lot of pride,’’ said Favazza, who grabbed the flag and won the contest in 1985. Over the past 30 years, Favazza has suffered numerous falls on the pole, enduring smashed ribs and welts to the head and hips. Still, he plans to compete on Sunday.

Later this week, Eric Spear will stand in front of an 80-foot-long green shack in the Fort area and begin to staple pictures of past greasy pole winners along the structure. The Greasy Pole Shrine, which he helped start five years ago, is tucked away near a wharf and is the last stop for contestants, who grab rags and solvents to remove the grease from their bodies. “It’s basically a bunch of pictures that people walk by and look at,’’ he explained, adding that he will post a picture of the 1946 winner, Joe Marino.

This year, he will walk the pole in honor of Marino — his late uncle and mentor. When asked the meaning of the fiesta, he answered: family and tradition. Like many of the organizers, he comes from a fishing family that has endured tragedies at sea. Spear’s grandfather and two uncles died at sea. Like Favazza, Spear will walk the greasy pole on Sunday. “It’s something in the heart, which is right.’’

Steven A. Rosenberg can be reached at srosenberg@gobe.com.