The Giglio Feast

This is a great Italian festival not to be missed. You really should go when they are doing a lift of the giglio. It's best to get on the steps if you can so you have a good view and don't have to keep moving back as the giglio moves down the street.

The Mount Carmel Feast! This traditional feast has been going on for years. I've been coming to this feast since I was a child. It's the same every year. There's some entertainment and plenty of food and games. It was much more fun back then when I was a kid because I didn't have to pay for any of it. Now that I'm here as an adult, the stuff here ain't cheap! 6 bucks for a tiny amount of fried calamari, $7 for a very plain sausage and peppers, $10 for a dozen fried oreos that weren't very crispy. It's all been made ahead of time and been sittin on display for quite some time. It was pretty expensive. I was there probably for 10-15 minutes with my nephew and 50 bucks went down the drain.

At the end of the day, I enjoy the festivities that goes on here. It's a friendly environment. There's no fights or anything like what goes on at the McCaren Park pool. There are a lot of very local and long time Brooklyn natives here. The only reason I don't come here as often is simply because of the prices they charge at each vendor. It's just a bit outrageous for today's economy. It's ballpark prices.

Long ago, before the vegan restaurants, faux-dive bars, and million dollar condos, Williamsburg was a large community of working class Italian-Americans. Today, very little of that community remains, but we still have the Giglio festival, which I believe is the oldest "feast" observed in NYC. It's similar to San Gennaro, just not as over the top and a bit smaller in scale.

Admittedly, I feel that over the years the festival has been marginalized; there are more than a few bad games and vendors, but there are many nice specialty trucks, offering sandwiches, cheese, ices, pastries and meat. On one hand, I am happy that the members of Our Lady of Mount Carmel continue the tradition of the feast. In my opinion, there aren't enough street fairs, in NYC, and despite the crowds, I do enjoy myself at these events. I'll pass on the $4.00 cups of mostly ice with a hint of "lemonade," but I'll eat at least one cannoli and a zeppole or two. The lifting of the tower is always fun to see and the atmosphere is generally positive. If I there was one thing I would change, I'd like it if some of the vendors would tone down the guido/GTL/mafioso attitude and focus more on la bella figura.

The Williamsburg Feast of San Paolino of Nola has been taking place for over 120 years. Over 120 men lift a 5 story statue (with a band and and others on it) around the streets in front of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

Size wise, it does not compare to the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. You have your food stands, some games , t-shirts etc.
I give this feast 5 stars for carrying on this special Giglio tradition.

I grew up going to the Feast of San Paolino in Fairview, NJ. This Fairview feast is long gone, but the Williamsburg Giglio keeps giong and helps me, even if only temporarily, relive some of the fond memories of my youth.

It was okay, a neighborhood feast. A mix of old neighborhood and "new"
Nothing to rave about. Crowded and smelling as you would imagine any street feast. Had zeppoles from a questionable street vendor. Got my feast fix. Probably wouldn't go back. But I won't deter you from trying it yourself :)

It's a small feast, but it's one of my favorites because it brings the whole neighborhood together.

How could it be that none of you have paid homage to the splendorous affair of the Giglio Festival? I'm not quite sure that I'm up for the task, but I really wanted to claim dibs on it.

Immigrants from Naples, Italy (Nola, Brusciano & Berra) settled in Williamsburg long before trucker hats & post ironic irony were ever imagined on the East Coast. In 1903, Neapolitan settlers brought a little slice of tradition to the streets of Brooklyn & threw the first American Giglio festival.

Without too long of a story- this is nothing short of maniacal! Imagine a 5 story hand carved Saint in a tower & a 12 piece brass band playing on a platform, all being carried on the shoulders of 125 Italian men in the hot & humid NYC summer. Now, imagine them dancing this giant chaos contraption through the streets, while some older Italian screams a broken dialect of authentic "Italiano, Brooklynese" through a megaphone. Then add some crazy ass, giant boat thing & a fake fight between these 2 separate groups that are charging at one another. It's nothing short of nuts, but it's their way of telling you the story.

There's LOADS more to the story, of course, but I suggest that you research it for yourself. During the Giglio season you'll notice banners on the local houses off of Lorimer Street that correspond to the positions that the home dwellers take in the festival proceedings. It's an honor for them to be included. The priest takes to the streets on the day of the festival & sells you bread. Ask him about the history & the story behind this festival & he'll be happy to oblige. And buy some bread, huh?

My fellow Italian-Americans will understand the lure of ANY Italian Feast & need only to be promised fresh zeppoles & brasiola, which they'll have alongside the tacky "Kiss Me, I'm Italian" shirts.

O' giglio é paradiso!

The feast is great, Brooklyn's remains pretty large even as the Harlem one (that moved to my hood of the Bronx and now back to Harlem) one is kind of getting smaller every year. In any case le feste dei gigli are probably some of the most authentic and unique italian/italo-american events.

I have been coming to this festival for YEARS and its always been "the Italian feast" to me. The first time I heard it called The Lady of Mount Carmel Feast, my mind was literally blown.
This feast brings all of Williamsburg and Greenpoint to a few streets to make a dirty mess with grilled sausages, soft drink cups, powdered sugar from zepoles, lemons, discarded lottery tickets and more. The smells coming from this festival make my pores clog and my eyes tear; not from the awful stench but from the fond memories.
They have rides here but they look fucked up. I see people putting their kids on these things... clearly, they don't love their children.
For teenagers, this is the place to come decked out and score phone numbers. Girls sluttify and boys wear more hair gel and cologne than you ever thought possible.
All in all, its a tradition. A tradition that makes me curse more and more as the years go by. I come early before the shit show, grab a sausage hero and a bag of zeppoles. Long live the days when they used to spike the frozen pina coladas!

it so funny because I can never remember what this festival is called or recall when it is. I always just so happen to stumble upon it. This yr was my second time attending. I must admit the first time was the best. this time seemed a bit dull and the prizes are wack. Why does the penguin with the bugged out eyes have a belly button? creepy. First night of attendance my friend and I got some empanadas and she also got an arepa (argentina). The arepa was kinda sweet but still lacking in flavor. I got a empanada of meat and one of cheese, she ordered one of cheese and one of chicken. While both mine were edible the cheese one was better yet got me sick. Although she ordered what she wanted the lady gave here one of meat and one of chicken. She wasnt happy but it was too late to say anything. overall first day sucked. Second day (yest.) was ok, we just got an order of zepples. They were chewy and a bit soggy :( the only thing I thought would be good. smh at this year. maybe next year they can step it up and be more like the st. gennaro feast. Now thats a festival :)

oh p.s
PEOPLE PLEASE STOP BRINGING YOUR CHILDREN IN CARRIAGES or learn how to use them before bringing them to festival, it is highly annoying and inconvenient for(just dont).