Time to Get Your Giglio On

Gowanus Lounge's favorite New York feast, the Giglio Festival at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church on Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg kicks off tomorrow night (July 6) at 7PM. It runs for two week through July 16. Even though GL got terribly suckered at one of the, um, games of chance at the Giglio Feast several years ago, it's still one of our New York favorites and one that retains a very unique North Brooklyn neighborhood flavor. The highlight of the feast is the Dance of the Giglio, on two Sundays, when you can see dozens of men carrying a platform with a tall tower and brass band up and down Havemeyer Street. If you haven't seen it--and it's crazy crowded and usually blazing hot--you owe it to yourself to catch this Brooklyn neighborhood tradition.

(Handy Giglio pronunciation guide: It's pronounced Jill-Yo, not Gig-Lee-oh.)

Details and feast schedule are available at the Giglio website and there's an excellent background on the Giglio feast at Giglio USA's website. The first Giglio feast in Williamsburg took place in 1903.