London's Italian community celebrates Our Lady of Mount Carmel

London's Italian community and their friends will be out in force this Sunday, 21 July, for the procession and festival of Our Lady of Mount Carmel - which will leave St Peter's Italian Church, 136 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1R 5DL at 3.30pm.

The procession will begin with the Cross of Peace and other peace symbols and banners representing the patron saints of Italy: St Francis of Assisi, St Catherine of Siena. These will be followed by statues of St Antony of Padua, Saint Lucy, Our Lady of Fatima, St Rita of Cascia, St Padre Pio, St Michael the Archangel and many more - with displays of regional costumes and music on floats from many Italian organisations.

Every year, thousand of people flock to the streets around St Peter's Church to watch the procession and then take in the festival where there will be music and delicious Italian foods and drinks of various street stands.

Since 1896, this event has been held every year, with an interval only during World War II. The procession was one of the first outdoor Catholic events to be allowed to take place in England since the Reformation. Queen Victoria granted special permission to the local police chief in Holborn to allow it to proceed. Procession costumes first appeared after the World War II and decorated floats began to feature during the 1950s.

LINKS

St Peter's Italian Church: www.italianchurch.org.uk/

Watch videos of the procession in 2023: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocyxpOLFUso

and 2018: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn1JXhKsZ1M