Giglio Society of East Harlem is a non profit

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

society located in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, that sponsors an annual feast honoring their patron saint, Saint Anthony.

History

20th century

Southern Italian immigrants predominated East Harlem, or

Italian Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...

, especially in the area east of Lexington Avenue between 96th and 116th Streets and east of Madison Avenue between 116th and 125th Streets, with each street featuring people from different regions of Italy. The neighborhood became known as "Italian Harlem." The

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

hub of Manhattan; it was the first part of Manhattan to be referred to as "Little Italy." Many families from the town of Brusciano, Italy migrated to East Harlem bringing with their tradition of the yearly Dance of the Giglio festival in honor of

Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua, Order of Friars Minor, OFM, (; ; ) or Anthony of Lisbon (; ; ; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. ...

. The Giglio ("lily" in Italian) is an 80-foot-tall, three-ton statue which is carried and danced through the streets of East Harlem by over 100 members of the society. The first Giglio Feast on 106th street in East Harlem started approximately in 1908. Giocchino Vivolo is credited for being the first Capo Paranza on 106th Street. The Festival on 106th Street grew for many years becoming one of the largest street fairs in America and remained that way until 1955. Then, in 1957, the festival moved a few blocks uptown to 108th Street, where the Dance of the Giglio continued until 1971.

21st century

After a 29-year hiatus, the Dance of the Giglio returned to East Harlem in 2000 as a Cooperative Feast with the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. The feast is now located on

Pleasant Avenue Pleasant Avenue is a north-south street in the East Harlem neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It begins at E. 114th Street and ends at E. 120th Street. The street was the northernmost section of Avenue A, which stretched ...

between 114th street and 116th street. In 2006, it was decided to hold the Dance of the Giglio Festival separate from the annual Our Lady of Mt Carmel feast. The decision to move the Dancing of the Giglio dates was made in order to relieve the strain on the Giglio community. The East Harlem Giglio feast is held annually on the second weekend of August on Pleasant Avenue, drawing thousands of visitors, former residents and tourists from around the world. The 3-ton Giglio statue is danced on the shoulders of over 100 faithful on the second Sunday of August.

References

External links

*{{official website, https://www.eastharlemgiglio.org/ Festivals in Manhattan Cultural history of New York City Italian-American culture in New York City Saints' days Street fairs August Cultural festivals in the United States East Harlem

History

20th century

21st century

See also

References

External links