Giglio Feasts - USA
East Harlem Feast
East Harlem, 2000
The Dance
of the Giglio Feast in East Harlem was one of the original Giglio feasts held in
the U.S.A back in the early 1900's. The roots of this feast differ somewhat from
their brethren feasts in the U.S.A. in that the descendants of this feasts
originated from the town of Brusciano, Italy which is located several miles from
Nola, Italy.
In the town of Brusciano, six Gigli are danced each year in honor of San Antonio, the town's patron saint. As the story goes, in 1875 a gentleman named Francisco Vivolo made a vow to San Antonio to erect and dance a Gigio in his honor like they do each year in Nola, if his deathly ill son miraculously recovered. Needless to say, Francisco's prayers were answered and the Dance of the Giglio was born in Brusciano, still carrying on today.
Descendants of Francesco Vivolo and others from the town of Brusciano settled in East Harlem shortly after the turn of the 1900 and started a Dance of the Giglio feast annually in honor of San Antonio. This tradition took place on 106th Street until 1955. In 1957, the feast was moved to 108th Street where it remained until 1971.
From 1971 through 1999, no Dance of the Giglio Feast took place in East Harlem. Then in 2000, the Dance of the Giglio feast returned and was held on 115th Street in cooperation with the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. A Giglio was erected and danced on Sunday July 16th, 2000 for the first time in 29 years that a Giglio was danced in East Harlem. Building on the success of the previous year, 2001 saw the return of the Dance of the Giglio in East Harlem held on Saturday, July 14.
The 2002 Our Lady of Mt Carmel feast was truly a spectacular event. The feast was lengthened to 12 days from Wednesday, July 10, 2002 through Giglio Sunday July 21, 2002. The Dance of the Giglio in East Harlem was held on Sunday, July 21, 2002 on 115th Street between 1st and Pleasant Avenues.
For the 2003 Feast, the festival will last 8 days from Wednesday July 9 through Wednesday July 16th. The Dancing of the Giglio will be held on Saturday, July 12 2003 at 3pm. Click here for a complete Schedule of the 2003 East Harlem Festival. For more information and direction contact Our Lady of My Carmel Rectory at 212-534-0681.
For more information on the East Harlem Giglio Feast and the Giglio Society of East
Harlem click here...