Festa Italiana Del Giglio will be taking over St. John’s Church in Mahopac this weekend with ceremonies, dancing and fine food. The festival is being organized by the Giglio Society, a group of individuals who have dedicated their lives to honor Catholic traditions.

Giulio Cefaloni, president of the Italian-American Club of Mahopac said that “Their love and devotion is on display each year during the Annual Italian Festival held throughout Italy when honoring patron saints in very much the same fashion as their ancestors did and still do annually by building a Giglio and dancing in the streets.” The Giglio is a 75- to 85-foot-tall wooden structure with a paper-mâché face adorned with saints and colorful flowers. Most prominent of the flowers is the lily, which is called a Giglio in Italian.