"La Festa del Giglio" at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

The neighborhood of Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, New York, like all neighborhoods, has been changing and evolving since Brooklyn became a borough of New York city in 1893 . At one time this neighborhood had a very large Italian population, and today many other ethnic groups also have enclaves within Williamsburg, including Germans, Hasidic Jews, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans. The neighborhood is also a magnet for young people moving to New York City. It is a mix of the old...


......and new, with a thriving art community, and a young hip scene. Many young professionals live in Williamsburg as it has a quick commute to Manhattan, and the rents are not quite as expensive.
For 121 years the Italian community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn reenacts a fourth century pageant which commemorates the return of the Bishop of Nola, Paolino, from captivity. His release from Moorish slavery was cause for a great festival which became famous throughout Southern Italy.

There is week long bazaar and carnival type atmosphere along Havemeyer Street with many food and other vendors and small rides for children, and games of chance.
On July 13, 2008 the "Dancing of the Giglio & Boat," occurred, and this was the most elaborate day of the festival. We arrived early, and already the crowd was forming. In a few hours there will be an estimated 15,000 people along this route to watch the carrying of the boat and Giglio.

There are all kinds of Italian specialty foods and gifts. Notice the funny sayings on the t-shirts in this booth! ( click to enlarge ll photos)

The smell of frying sausages and onions and peppers and steak and braciole was everywhere!

This booth is making the ubiquitous zeppoles that are found at every Italian festival. They are fried sweet dough which are sprinkled with power sugar. The booth had about 850 pounds of flour stacked behind it ready to be used today!

How could we resist? We had a sausage and pepper and onion hero with a Manhattan Special espresso soda that is made nearby in Brooklyn........

.......and a bag of zeppoles for dessert! They are so good -- hot, and sweet!

We walked over to look at the platform which holds the boat, or La Barca as it is called in Italian. Later, a small band and the man chosen to be the "Turk" will climb onto this platform and 150 men, or paranzas, will lift this structure up on their shoulders and slowly move it down the street. This is a reproduction that shows how St. Paolino was returned to his people by boat, a Moorish Galleon, and met on the shores of Nola, Italy as joyous townspeople held lilies in their hands as a sign of homage.

Below is the Lily, or Giglio as it is called in Italian. It is represented by a 72 foot tall tower, and weigh 4 tons when the band is on the platform, and it will also be lifted and carried by 150 men lead by a single man called "The Capo" or "Capo Peranza."

The Giglio is adorned with flowers and angels and on the top is a statue of St. Paolino

You can see the platform the towers rests on in the photo below.

A close up photo of "Our Lady Of Mount Carmel" that is on the Giglio. This is the name of the church that sponsors the festival in Brooklyn.

A close up of St.Paolino on the very top of the tower.

There is also a smaller children's Giglio, which can be seen on the church steps below. The parish children carried this in a procession earlier in the week.

This year the men who carried the Giglio and the boat were dressed in a green T-shirts. Every year the shirt is a different color. They have a procession to the Giglio tower.

The "The Turk" goes to the boat platform.

The band marches by playing traditional Italian songs.

The boat is lifted and carried down the street.

The band is in place on the Giglio's platform.

A priest from the church of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel is on the platform and does and invocation and blesses the crowd.

The Giglio tower is lifted and turned or "danced" around and around while the band plays and crowd cheers! It is very exciting to see!
The photos below show a sequence of the turning of the Giglio tower.

Remember this Giglio tower weighs 4 tons! As the Giglio passed by I took the following photos of the strong men who lift it on their shoulders.

These men are on the side and have to walk sideways. You can see how they are straining.

The men in the corners all hold their arms like this to give balance to the tower. The Capo is on the platform and he instructs the men when to lift, when to turn, and when to let the tower down and rest, all the while the band is playing.

Meanwhile, the boat is also slowly making its way down the street, also being carried on a platform.

The children on the boat throw paper confetti out onto the crowd and the Turk waves.

The Giglio and the boat will eventually meet in front of the church, but the procession to move them both closer and closer takes hours.

When we've come to this festival in the past I would have been right in the front of the crowd to watch, but I stayed back a little this year at the end, because I didn't want to get squeezed by the enormous crowd this year.

They are carried closer and closer......

......until both the boat and the Giglio almost touch and there is a big roar from the crowd, lots of confetti is thrown, and the reenactment of the joyful return of St. Paolino to his hometown of Nola, Italy is completed.

Here is a Youtube link to watch some of the event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj4eoOsP98k

There is more about the history of "La Festa di Giglio" in Brooklyn at Our Lady of Mount Carmel feast web site here.

I hope you enjoyed seeing one of the many Italian feast day festivals that take in New York City.

Buona Festa! Ciao!