Dancing of the Giglio

Every July, a four-ton tower with a 12-piece brass band on top is lifted by more than 100 men and ‘dances’ through the streets of Brooklyn. Welcome to one of the oldest Italian-American street festivals. The first Giglio Feast in Brooklyn was organized in 1903 by Italian immigrants with a towering Giglio carried by more than 120 lifters in a choreographed shuffle through the neighborhood. But this is no ordinary shuffle, it is the Dancing of the Giglio, and as the lifters say: “A lot of people think the men are dancing. No – we are making the Giglio dance.”

The tradition traces back to 410 AD, when barbarians devastated the Campania region of Italy and carried off many inhabitants into slavery. Bishop Paulinus spent all his wealth ransoming captives – and when a poor widow came to him weeping because her only son had been taken, Paulinus offered himself in place of the youth. He traveled to Africa, entered servitude as a gardener, and labored in humility, concealing his identity as a bishop. When a prophetic vision revealed his true identity to the king, the ruler was so moved by the saint’s sacrifice that he released Paulinus along with all the captives of his city of Nola.

Upon his triumphant return, the joyful townspeople met their beloved bishop at the seashore, carrying armfuls of lilies and wild flowers to welcome him home. This moment inspired an annual celebration in Nola, where different trade guilds began building elaborate displays of lilies – over time, these displays evolved into towering wooden structures called gigli, paraded through the streets in honor of San Paolino.

In 1903, the Giglio Feast tradition was brought to Brooklyn, and half a century later it merged with the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the neighborhood of Williamsburg. Today the 12-day extravaganza continues as part street festival, part feat of strength, part living history – with sausage-and-peppers, zeppole, fried Oreos, and a pop-up Casino in the basement – what more could you ask for?