New Orleans to make world's largest pasta bowl

New Orleanians can get a free pasta lunch Friday as part of the city's festivities for St. Joseph's Day.

The big picture: The Italian American St. Joseph Society is making what it calls the world's largest bowl of pasta con la sarde at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.

• It will have 500 pounds of pasta topped with red gravy, sardines, anchovies, pine nuts and breadcrumbs, society president Peter Gilberti tells Axios.
• The society has been making the dish for years, and it usually feeds about 400 people with plenty of leftovers, he said.

Zoom in: David Greco, owner of Mike's Deli and Arthur Avenue Caterers in the Bronx, is leading the cooking team again. He plans to start in the kitchen at 4:30am Friday.

• The 53rd annual pasta party starts at noon in the hotel's Churchill ballroom. It's a free event with music, wine and dancing.

Zoom out: The society's annual parade rolls at 6pm Saturday. It includes a moving St. Joseph's altar.

• The parade starts at the Hilton and winds through the CDB and French Quarter before returning to the hotel.
• The procession has been altered due to French Quarter security concerns. Only walking participants — no vehicles — will parade on the Bourbon Street portion, Gilberti tells Axios.
• See the route.

Other upcoming parades:

• The Louisiana Irish-Italian Parade rolls in Metairie at noon Sunday. (Details)

• The Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Parade rolls at 10am March 29. It was canceled March 16 due to severe weather.
• The Gretna Italian-Irish Parade rolls at noon March 30. (Details)

St. Joseph's Day was Wednesday. Catholics in New Orleans observe the day by creating altars laden with food to honor the relief St. Joseph provided during a drought in Sicily, the archdiocese says.

• Sicilian immigrants brought the tradition to New Orleans when they settled here in the late 1800s, according to New Orleans and Co.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the Gretna Italian-Irish Parade is March 30 (not March 23).