A Guide To The Giglio Italian Feast In Williamsburg NYC

Each July, Williamsburg’s Italian residents take back the neighborhood from their more recently-arrived hipster neighbors. From July 5 though July 16 of this year, the Giglio Italian Feast will celebrate its 115th anniversary. Make Nonna proud by getting familiar with the fest with our guide to New York City’s Giglio Italian Feast.

This event dates back to 1903

Soon after a wave of Neapolitan immigrants settled in this area of Brooklyn in the 1880s, the Italian transplants grew eager to honor their village’s patron saint, San Paolino. Resuming a tradition with roots in southern Italy, the first Giglio Italian Feast in Williamsburg was held in 1903, making it 40 years older than Little Italy’s better-known San Gennaro Festival.

The feast’s bizarre main attraction involves an 80-foot tower, 125 lifters, and a 12-piece brass band

The feast specifically focuses on a singular event involving San Paolino

Although San Paolino served as Bishop of Nola from 409 AD to 431 AD, he’s honored at the feast for a different reason. Legend has it that around 410 AD, after successfully escaping kidnap by pirates, Paolino volunteered to take the place of an abducted young man-turned-slave. When news of Paolino’s altruism reached a Turkish sultan, he was freed. A reenactment of the saint’s release, complete with a custom-made ship docking, is staged at the feast every year.

This community-bonding event used to be a competition

While today there is a single tower and lifting team, historic iterations of the event involved several of both. At one point, the feast became a competition in which various trade guilds built their own 80-foot tributes and hired exclusive lifters, after which the carrying of the towers would be judged.

Despite its saintly honoree, the original feast was not religious

Shortly after arriving in Williamsburg, late 19th-century Italian immigrants built the Our Lady of Mount Carmel church. Traditionally, the Giglio Feast honored San Paolino more as a hometown hero than as a religious saint, which is why the 1950s merging of the feast with Our Lady of Mount Carmel was cause for controversy in Williamsburg. Since the two saint days were forged together in 1958, the Giglio Feast has culminated on July 16, the traditional feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

This Italian tradition has evolved into a secular, all-ethnicities event

Not even an 80-foot tower can trump the New York effect. While Italian treats like zeppole and braciole are prepared at the feast, it has become as diverse and accessible as the city itself, with fairground games, rides, and music everyone can enjoy.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.