It will take 130 men to carry the Giglio through the streets of Williamsburg at the annual Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
North Eighth & Havemeyer Sts.
Through July 18
Admission: free
718-384-0223
www.olmcfeast.com
The 123rd annual Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Paulinus of Nola is under way, featuring nearly two weeks of children’s rides and activities, Italian delicacies, parades, games, a bazaar, live performances, and, of course, the lifting of the eighty-foot-tall, three-ton, vertical Giglio, which 130 men will carry on Sunday, July 11, along with la barca. Tonight is the children’s Giglio, with July 10 the Questua procession, July 14 the Night Lift, July 16 Our Lady of Mount Carmel Day, and July 18 Old Timers’ Day. Other highlights include the Brooklyn Keys on July 10, Uncle Floyd with Mark Pizzano on July 12, Angelo Ruggiero on July 16, and Sal Manzo on July 17. The feast celebrates how Bishop Paolino sacrificed his own freedom for those abducted by North African pirates in the fifth century, later to be returned to Nola in southern Italy and greeted by the townspeople holding gigli, or lilies.