Williamsburg Photo du Jour: Giglio Festival

July 16, 2008 by missheather
Filed under: Williamsburg

The Giglio Festival is a rite of passage for neophyte New Yorkers. Like the Statue of Liberty or Empire State Building, you see it once out of a sense of personal responsibility and that is enough. When Mr. Heather moved in with me back in 2003 we went to check it out. His curiosity was satiated and we have not gone back since.

The previous having been said, Will Nunziata (of Collars Up Films) was present at this year’s festivities and forwarded me this hilarious photograph.

He wrote:

I took this at the Giglio fest in Williamsburg on Sunday. I still can’t stop laughing. Notice the graffiti. Perfect.

I agree.

Miss Heather

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Comments

2 Comments on Williamsburg Photo du Jour: Giglio Festival

bitchcakes on Wed, 16th Jul 2008 1:00 pm

Hilarious!

I’m going this weekend to get photos. I’m going to look for that fire box!

dc108 on Thu, 17th Jul 2008 8:45 am

I believe that firebox is nearest to the corner of Havemeyer and North 9th Street, down by the entrance to the school, on the school’s side of the street.

Also, I feel the need to say that if you’re from Williamsburg, if you remember what it was like before gentrification, when Union Pool really was a pet/pest/pool store, when McCarren Park Pool was still an open pool and not a concert venue, when the LEFT lane entrance and exit ramps for the BQE at Meeker Avenue still existed, when crack vials littering your front steps was a reality (much more than it is now, anyway), then going to the OLMC Feast and seeing the Giglio is in your blood. It’s a hot sweaty mass of people crowding the small streets to watch a form of pageantry, but it’s something that you’re drawn to do because it’s what you know. It’s habitual for the old-timers, it’s slightly hokey, but it’s also something that brings and keeps current and former residents together. I was happy to be there on Sunday and found myself catching up with family, friends, and former neighbors all the while.

I’m sure the numbers are down these days as the older residents get priced out of the area, but many a family used to host parties on the Sunday of the first lift. Having lived on Conselyea Street, I can both attest to it and declare that I don’t miss that part of the day (the setting up, the cleaning up, etc.).

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