A spectacular Italian Festival kicking off July 8th in Brooklyn honoring Saint Paolino has it all: faith, food, music, neighborliness, international visitors. Neapolitan immigrants from Italy settled in Williamsburg long ago and brought a beautiful tradition to the streets of Brooklyn with the first Giglio (Italian for "lily") festival in 1903.

During the 12-day extravaganza a five-story, gorgeous, hand-created tower featuring Saint Paolino's statue and a 12-piece brass band playing on a platform, is carried on the sturdy shoulders of a 150-man platoon through the Williamsburg streets. Music, muscles, Catholic Masses and (the original) Madonna are some of the diverse features of the spectacular Italian festivities promising a wonderful experience for every visitor.

A "Capo", a very honored gentleman of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, using a megaphone, calls out orders to the 'lifters" – Forward! Up! Down! Dance! Circulate! – and the immense, 4-ton tower, defying laws of gravity, "dances".

A re-enactment of St. Paulinas' release from captivity includes an ornate, custom-made ship docking with the tower on the Brooklyn streets, providing a spectacle worthy of the Broadway stage!

Of certain appeal to many, including those who have attended the Giglio for decades, are the Italian-themed souvenirs, the Italian delicacies including seafood, zeppoles and braciola, and kiddie rides for the youngsters.

WHEN: July 8th - July 19th
Wednesday July 8th Opening Night Mass 6pm, followed by Candlelight Procession
Children's Giglio Lift - Thursday July 9th, 6:00 pm
Questua - Distribution of Blessed Bread throughout the Parish neighborhood - Saturday July 11th 11:00 am
Giglio Sunday - Sunday July 12th:
9:00 am Capo Parade
11:00 am Mass in Honor of St. Paulinas
1:00 pm Dancing of the Giglio & Boat
Night Dance of the Giglio – Wednesday, July 15, 7:30 pm
Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel - Thursday, July 16th
Celebration Masses in English (9am), Italian (11am), (1pm) Polish (6pm), Spanish (7pm), Creole (8pm)
Procession of the Statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel throughout the Parish Neighborhood following 1pm Mass
Children's Giglio Lift Rain Date - Friday July 17, 6pm
Old Timers Giglio Sunday - Sunday July 19th, 1pm to 11p.m.
Capo Parade: 1:00 p.m.
Dancing of the Giglio/Old Timers "Lift": 2:00 p.m.
Return of Our Lady's Statue to the Church & Benediction 9:30 pm
Closing Ceremonies & raffle drawing on Church steps 10 pm

HOURS: Monday - Friday: 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Saturdays: 6 p.m. to Midnight
Sundays: 12 Noon to 11 p.m.

WHAT: The Feast - 40 years older and second in size to San Gennaro - celebrating the dramatic story of St. Paulinus, will have live, nightly entertainment, vendors selling Italian specialties and international delicacies, parades, a bazaar with games, gifts, souvenirs; children's rides and amusements and the atmosphere and excitement of Italy. The streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn will come alive as 125 men carry the 80-foot tall, 4-TON 'Giglio' (Italian for Lilies) and the passion of the Old World Italian Street Festival is reborn!

WHERE: 275 North 8th Street at Havemeyer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

More on the Giglio Feast:

One of the most spectacular, unusual traditional Italian-American feasts in the United States is taking place from July 8th to 19th in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St. Paulinus of Nola features the lifting of an 80-foot-tall, 4-ton statue known as the Giglio, which means "lily" in Italian. The statue is topped by a representation of St. Paulinus, an early Christian martyr who was taken prisoner by the Turks; when he was finally released, St. Paulinus returned to Nola, Italy in a boat and the people all ran to shore to greet him with lilies.

The feast, which originated with Brooklyn immigrants from the region of Nola, is now one of the most popular and spectacular Italian-American street festivals in the United States, second in size in NYC only to the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy. It has live entertainment nightly, vendors selling Italian specialties and international delicacies, spectacular parades, games and children's rides. The feast takes place at North 8th and Havemeyer Streets.

The massive Giglio tower itself, which also holds an Italian brass band, a singer and the parish priest, is carried by 125 well-trained men headed by a capo, or leader. At the same time, another crew of 120 men carry a life-sized boat with a statue of St. Paulinus and parishioners acting the parts of the Turks and the pirates. The crews lift their tower and vessel up and down in an amazing spectacle while parading through the streets and re-enacting Paulinas' homecoming.

Opening night is Wednesday, July 8. Thursday, July 9th will feature a children's Giglio lift, and the Questa (children walking through the local streets distributing blessed bread to neighbors in a symbolic act of charity) will take place on Saturday, July 11. Giglio Sunday featuring the Lifting of the Giglio, takes place Sunday, July 12. A "Night Lift" will take place on Wednesday, July 15. The Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Thursday, July 16th, will feature Masses throughout the day in English, Italian, Polish, Haitian Creole and Spanish at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 275 North 8th St. Old-Timer's Day, featuring former capos, will be held the final day of the feast, Sunday, July 19th.

The Giglio Feast is produced to support Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church following a centuries-old tradition that continues to hold deep religious and cultural meaning for many: the Italians and Italian-Americans who either continue to live in Brooklyn or are returning to 'the old neighborhood' - as well as Catholics of many other ancestries.

Thousands of spectators include Italiophiles from around the USA, plus Williamsburg hipsters and other Brooklyn and NYC residents who come to see and enjoy a spectacular, heart-warming event that is on the "endangered species list".