Victoria Giuliano

Hello Giglio family, I am writing a small introduction for one of our Giglio Boys, Matty Guiliano’s daughter Victoria. This young lady had to write something for cultural diversity day at school, she chose our great tradition to write about. Take a couple of minutes and read this young lady’s work, she is truly a proud Giglio Girl and will be carrying on this tradition for many years to come. The children of our feast are the future of our feast and I want to take a second to thank all the the parents, grandparents who raise these children to be Giglio Strong, because of you our tradition will last a lifetime.

The Giglio is the Feast of Saint Anthony where 150 people carry an 80 foot statue in his honor. The Giglio Feast (Giglio in Italian means Lily) started in Italy. They still do it in Italy but they also do it is East Harlem, New York City; although it’s not as big as it is in Italy. They have a Children’s Giglio and it’s so much fun. The Giglio kids carry it through the streets and afterwards my friends and I get to go on the rides. Then, the next day, it’s the Men’s Giglio; but the women can carry it too. After we’re done with the Giglio, we go down into the church basement and eat and then the DJ drops his sick beats. How did this start in Italy and in New York you might ask? Well, when Italian immigrants came to America they took it upon themselves to make it a tradition in their new homeland, just like they did in Italy. The Giglio has been danced in America from 1908-2016. In Italy, they do it all day, where in America we stop and it’s not all night through the next morning. I suggest you come.  by:Victoria Giuliano