Fig growers and fans of the ficus collected at the National Lighthouse Museum on Sunday for the ninth annual Fig Fest. It is held each year, rain or shine, on Sept. 15. And this year was the first at the St. George venue. “The waterfront is where this festival should be.

It’s a very Staten Island location for a homegrown thing -- with a view of the ferry in the background,” said Peter Cundari, a fig aficionado from Eltingville who has attended each festival since the inaugural event at the Turtle Fountain in Midland Beach.