A feast, a statue, and over one hundred years of tradition brought crowds out to the streets of Williamsburg on Sunday, July 9 to see the first lift of an eighty-foot-tall statue of Saint Paolino. The 130th Giglio Feast, which is 40 years older than and second in size only to Little Italy’s San Gennaro Festival, is hosted by Our Lady of Mount Carmel located at 275 North 8th Street (at Havemeyer Street).

As the 125 lifters picked up and paraded the five-story platform and statue of Saint Paolino, a twelve-piece brass band played and a priest blessed the crowds that surged to follow the gorgeous, 4-ton tower, adorned with red, white and blue lilies (“giglio” is Italian for lilies).