The Giglio has been lifted, which means Williamsburg’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast is officially on. The 12-day Italian-American celebration runs July 8 through July 19 in the streets surrounding the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, according to the Canarsie Courier.
The centerpiece is the Dancing of the Giglio. The Giglio is a tower standing more than 70 feet tall, decorated with flowers, saints and angels, and it gets carried through the neighborhood on the shoulders of over 100 men, the Courier reported. Gothamist noted the same milestone in its news roundup: the Giglio has been lifted, so the feast is on.
This is the 139th year Williamsburg has done this. According to the Courier, immigrants from Southern Italy brought the tradition with them and have celebrated it every summer since 1887. The feast mixes faith, culture and family.
The Courier describes the feast as 12 days and nights of food, games, rides and nightly entertainment in the streets around the church. The paper describes it as a multi-generational celebration of the neighborhood’s Italian-American community.
If you want to go, the feast wraps July 19. The Courier points readers to olmcfeast.com for the schedule and more information.
Featured image: Courtesy canarsiecourier.com
