Proud and vibrant, men in immaculate suits with sashes across their chests, women and children in traditional costume, they gather on the streets of Ancoats. The picture below was taken in 1955 and the occasion was an annual parade.
But black ribbons are also worn by the group. The reason is that earlier that year, Marco Rea, the President of the Manchester Italian Association had died. On the front row of the photograph in the centre (fourth and fifth from the left) are two little sisters - Marco's granddaughters, Lorraine and Anna.
Today Lorraine is the President of the Association - the only woman to hold the post. She is in charge of organising the same event which will take place this Sunday - the Madonna Del Rosario procession. Now in its 133rd 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.
But the picture is also poignant for Lorraine, as it reminds her of her grandfather's courage. As a young man he served with the Italian army during the First World War, when it supported the Allied Powers. But, by the 1930s, Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was in control of Italy.
Lorraine said: "When Italy invaded Abyssinia (in 1935) there was concern about what kind of reception the procession would get that year. The President of our Association at the time did not want to go ahead with it. But my grandfather said 'I'm taking it out' because he figured they would be welcomed. He was right, everyone was clapping the Italians as they walked through Ancoats. He knew that Manchester people appreciated not all Italians supported Mussolini. My grandfather then became President until he died in 1955.
"Some say he was the best President we ever had. When he died there were there were three hearses to carry his coffin and all the flowers and 17 cars in the cortege that arrived at St Patrick's RC Church in Collyhurst - and the middle doors, not the side door, were opened for his arrival - which had never been done before."
Yet, incredibly, Marco and his nephew, Dominic Rea, were both interned in the Isle of Man after Mussolini's Italy aligned itself with Hitler's Nazi Germany - a fate which met many respectable local Italians.
Marco had left the village of Arpino in the province of Frosinone in central Italy, near Lazio, first for Ireland, then Chester, and eventually Manchester where his own ice cream business thrived.
Lorraine, who was brought up in Collyhurst, living just behind St Patrick's, said: "I worked for my grandfather, and by the time I was 18 I was driving an ice cream van, working in Collyhurst, Ancoats, Miles Platting and parts of Cheetham Hill.
"I used to go and do the factories in and around Derby Street - that was all my round. Me, my dad, Gerrard, and brother, Peter, did all these areas. When I finished my round my brother would do the night beat. All the other Marco Rea vans went up Wythenshawe."
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.
The Procession, which later became known as the ‘Festa Della Madonna Del Rosario’, is headed by men from the Italian community who carry a statues of the Madonna adorned with white lilies, The Calvary, St. Anthony and banners. Women walk in Italian dress and children who have recently taken their First Holy Communion also take part.
Lorraine said: "Ancoats was the heart of Little Italy - Blossom Street, Jersey Street, all around there, and of course St Michael's Church. It was a wonderful place - everyone took care of each other - a real community. Then those communities started to get broken up as streets were knocked down."
In 2004 Lorraine campaigned to stop the closure of St Michael's Church in George Leigh Street Ancoats. Her campaign failed but the building remains used by the Halle Orchestra for concerts and educational activities as well as providing space for community use.
In 1987 Lorraine and her sister Anna, opened Roma deli in Whitefield. It has grown from a tiny little shop and café to a bustling restaurant famed for its rustic and authentic Italian food and friendly staff who span three generations of the family.
The procession remains a highlight of Manchester city centre's summer, a joyous mix of bands, banners, members of numerous parishes, and the thread of the colours of Italy's flag, green, red, and white, running through it.
Lorraine said: "This year St Chad's from Cheetham Hill, who have been walking with us for many years, will join us in their 250th anniversary; and St Anne's of Ancoats who celebrate their 135th year. We have two new churches walking with us for the first time - the Hidden Gem from Manchester city centre - and St Anne's of Openshaw.
"The procession is very important to us. When the Italian immigrants came to this country many settled in Ancoats. They brought their culture, their food, their music, and they brought their religion. Every Sunday St Michael's and other local catholic churches would be filled to the brim with Italian families.
"Police used to go and eat with Italians - there was always a big pan of pasta on - even when all that trouble (Mussolini siding with Hitler's Germany) was going on. Ironically a lot of Italian men served in the British army - including my dad, who was a chef - yet he got called an Italian spy by some. My grandfather and two uncles were interned.
"Hopefully the importance of the procession is being passed through the generations - I try to keep the passion going. I campaigned to keep St Michael's open because I was frightened that if it got kocked down or different people got hold of it that's our heritage gone - and that was the only thing we had left in Ancoats."
Tomorrow's procession will start outside St Michael's in George Leigh Street at 1.15pm and proceed to St Peter's Square before returning to the church.
