Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast: Rides, Fried Food and a Parade

There are very few times when I’m willing to stand outside wearing only a towel. One of those occasions to watch my elderly neighbor get carried down from her apartment on a chair to get blessed by priests. I knew her sons were involved with the planning of the annual feast for Our Lady of Mount Carmel, but I had no idea the parade started outside of my old building on Withers Street. My roommate told me I needed to get out of the shower and come outside immediately, so I wrapped up in my towel and stood on my stoop, watching the block fill up with Italian dudes, their blond girlfriends, priests, and a full marching band. The parade left to roam the streets and collect and bless more dignitaries from their homes, go to mass, and then lift up a big ass statue. Then my elderly neighbor looked at me and said, “Go put some clothes on” before she went back into her apartment.

Even nonbelievers can enjoy the feast as one of Williamsburg’s best people watching events of the year, because the statue is set up in the middle of a carnival. The carnival’s got deep fried Oreos, cotton candy, rusty Ferris wheels, disgruntled carnies, large people in small clothes'”all the allures of a county fair without the lingering smell of livestock. And since the carnival’s on North 8th and Havemeyer, you can run to a cheap bar when you’ve eaten enough food you’ll regret.

Photo from life.com

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast
N8th and Havemeyer [Williamsburg, Brooklyn]
Feast runs daily Wednesday July 7 to 16
Statue lift is Sunday, July 11 at 1pm on N9 and Havemeyer