The festival benefitting Our Lady of Mount Carmel returns this year after COVID shut down street fair.

The Giglio Feast, as the festival is sometimes called gets its name from the Italian word for lilies. There is a good history of the festival over at 6sqft, which notes that at 118 years, its older than San Gennaro.

The annual festival features rides, games of chance, and plenty of Italian food. Sausage and peppers as well as all manner of fried foods are staples of the festival.

The main attraction at the feast is the hoisting of the tower. The 70-foot tall tower known as the Giglio is paraded through the festival.

The last time the festival was canceled was in 1945 during World War II when Americans were fighting Nazis in Germany rather than in Washington.