Dreaming of a Mediterranean getaway this summer but not got the annual leave or the spare cash to make it happen? This Sunday, you can spend the afternoon in Italy for the price of a tube fare. Just head to Clerkenwell Road, where the annual Procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel revives the spirit of what was once London’s Little Italy.
A tradition dating all the way back to 1883, the procession starts at St Peter’s Italian Church (built in the 1860s for the area’s then booming Italian population) at 3.30pm, and forms the centrepiece Italian-style festival, or sagra, on the streets of Clerkenwell from 11am.
Join the crowds lining the roads to watch life-size scenes of saints, martyrs and other Biblical types cruise by on floats, then scoff arancini, prosciutto, gelato and cannoli at the stalls set up on Warner Street.
Here’s hoping for a little bit of Neapolitan sunshine to make it even more like being on holiday.