Williamsburg’s mighty Giglio feast was feeling a sting of decline in 2019 as organizers faced a once-unthinkable problem — there was a serious lack of volunteer lifters who are needed each year to hoist up and carry the 4-ton, 72-foot statue through Brooklyn.
What a difference two years can make as New Yorkers, once battered and now freed from the pandemic, rushed to enjoy and lend a hand to this age-old cultural event, which offers two vital assets: scores of paesani and a community tradition that dates back more than 100 years to the old country.
The feast goes late into the night and the pink glow of lights on the tenements always feels magical pic.twitter.com/NuFckeXEqu
— Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada (@emoprofessor) July 12, 2021
This past Sunday, thousands flocked to North Eighth Street and witnessed 150 men lifting and carrying of the Giglio, which bears the likeness of St. Paulinus.
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Brooklyn Paper reporters attended the popular borough celebration over the weekend, and spoke to some of the revelers:
“You always remember how much you miss something when you don’t get to do it for a year,” said Dan Mace, who has lifted the Giglio each year since he was 12. In 2010, he became an apprentice capo, or captain, of the lift.
"It's great to be back," said 94-year-old Joe Martino, who got to see his friend Joey Langone, 70, for the first time in person since before the pandemic at the dancing of the Giglio. "Where's the oxygen?" Langone joked between lifts. https://t.co/xJJ8Oijz13
— Brooklyn Paper (@brooklynpaper) July 11, 2021
The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel runs ’til July 18, and attendees can expect the usual feast attractions, including live music, authentic and street side Italian fare, games, spiritual dedications and more.
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