An earlier than expected exit from the Euros by La Squadra Azzura didn't mute a carnival of colour courtesy of Manchester's Italian community. The traditional Madonna del Rosario procession took place in the city centre.
And thanks to "divine intervention" the sun shone for the entire parade after heavy showers earlier in the day. Now in its 134th year it began as a religious festival and now celebrates the culture and traditions of families who migrated from Italy and their contributions to the city.
Prior to the pandemic, when it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, the procession, which dates back to 1890, had previously only been halted by war. The only years it did not happen were during the First World War and from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War.
The procession was born out of the creation in 1888 of the Manchester Italian Catholic Society, the result of a local priest’s desire to form a dedicated group to support and educate Italian families living in the city.
Families had moved - mainly from Lazio and Campagna - to find jobs in Manchester’s booming cotton mills and industrial workplaces. In the late 1800s there was an influx of Italian immigrants from the North and South of Italy to the district of Ancoats near Manchester city centre, an area which was later to become known as Ancoats’ Little Italy.
Back in their homeland, almost every city and village had a patron saint and a special day to celebrate them. So, when the Italians took part in their first Whit Friday Procession in 1890 in Manchester it must have seemed like home from home.
Tony Rea of the Manchester Italian Association, said: "The Procession, which later became known as the 'Festa Della Madonna Del Rosario', is headed by men from the Italian community who carry a statue of the Madonna adorned with white lilies, The Calvary, St.Anthony and banners. Women walk in Italian dress, and children who have recently made their First Holy Communion also take part.
"The procession this year was a great success. We had a good turn out and the Manchester Italian Association would like thank all the dignitaries would took part and the brass bands and pipe bands. It was raining in the morning, it was atrocious first thing. Then the sun came out and shone on us right until the end of the procession. It must have been divine intervention because the forecast was horrendous.
"It is still important for the community because it brings everybody together. And the Italian community is now a mixed bag because they have inter-married with English, Irish, and Afro-Caribbean families and really intergrated into Mancunian society. Our Association is hoping to do an exhibition at some point at St Michael's former church showing the history of the Italian community in Manchester."
This year the Procession began outside the former St. Michael’s church, George Leigh Street, Ancoats. Walking with it was the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Paul Andrews, Matteo Corradini, Consul of the Consulate of Italy in Manchester, Gianlugi Cassandra, President of Comites di Manchester, The Right Reverend John Arnold, Eleventh Bishop of Salford, and priests of local parishes and schools in Greater Manchester.
