The document summarizes many traditional festivals and events celebrated throughout the Apulia region of Italy. It discusses religious festivals honoring patron saints, processions, folk dances, historical reenactments, and numerous food festivals highlighting the region's agricultural products. Many of the events involve colorful costumes, live music, food, and attract both locals and tourists. The calendar of events provides cultural insights and opportunities to experience deep-rooted traditions throughout the year in Apulia.

1. Apulia, a region for any season
Folk traditions are held throughout the year and as in Apulia sunny days start in March and end
in November, you can come here in almost any time of the year!!
They most often concern patron saints’ festivals but there are other religious traditions which take
place in towns, villages or in country churches. Easter processions involve crowds of people
throughout the region but there are minor processions, penitential or propitiatory rites which
also allow participants to go into the deepest facets of the region. Most traditions are connected
with devotion to saints or have their roots in rural life and in pagan rites (such as folk dances and
music) or in the historical events which took place in the region. During folk festivals or
exhibitions, Patron Saints’ festivals or historical parades, which always attract crowds of
tourists or people from surrounding towns, beautiful costumes of the past can be admired. The
calendar of special events includes also a lot of food festivals (the so-called sagre) and, many of
them are held in summer, when most tourists visit the region. So if really want to have an insight
into this region you had better include some of the following special events in your itinerary or
come here expressly to take part in some of them such as the Holy Week.
Patron saints’ festivals are celebrated with processions, live brass bands, fun fairs and stalls selling
cakes, grilled meat and other food, fireworks, artistic illuminations - the most spectacular Italian
illuminations can be seen at the festival held in honour of Saint Domenica at Scorrano ( Lecce).
The spectacular illuminations of Scorrano – Costumes of the past can be admired in historical parades
One of the most heartfelt religious festival is held on the third Sunday of October at Bitonto, when
barefooted men holding two-metre long candles follow in procession the statues of its protectors,
the Saints Doctors Cosmas and Damian (who are also Patron Saints of Alberobello and are
solemnly celebrated in this town from 25th till 28th September).
On the 8th May in Bari a festival is held in honour of St. Nicholas, the world-known patron
saint who takes gifts to children with the name of Saint Klaus. One day before the start of this
festival a pageant re-enacts the recovery of the remains of body of the saint, taken from Myra in
1087. The day after his statue is taken to sea, followed and surrounded by boats of all sizes.
Much alike the statues of Saint Theodore of Amasea and Saint Lawrence, Patron Saints of
Brindisi and the statue of the Patron Saint of Taranto, Saint Catald, are taken out to sea during
their local festivals.

2. The Madonna of the Martyrs, Patron Saint of sailors and fishermen at Molfetta, is also taken on
board of boats to be celebrated. On the 8th September in the early hours of the afternoon bare-
footed fishermen wearing T-shirts with the face of the Madonna and colored laces tied at the
ankles and arms, knock insistently at the door of the sanctuary and take her statue to a pier. Then,
among the crowd of citizens and of emigrants who have come back to their native town to take
part in this event, the statue is embarked onto the main boat chosen by lot and transported
around the port area for about four hours.
Molfetta: sea procession held in honour of Our Lady of the Martyrs
Other patron saints’ feast are celebrated with bonfires, especially St. Anthony the Abbot, the
Abbot who defied Hell’s fire to save sinners. The bonfires which are lit on 16th January at Novoli
are so spectacular (they reach the height of 20 metres) that reports have been made by the National
Geographic and by the Japanese press about them.

3. The big bonfire of Novoli
St. Conrad of Bavaria, co-Patron Saint of Molfetta, is also celebrated with bonfires on 9th
February. Beans, chick peas and pumpkin seeds are toasted bonfires and offered to participants. In
the past centuries people used to take the ashes of the sacred fire to their house (so as to spread its
warmth inside them) and farmers used to scatter them around their trees.
Molfetta: a bonfire held in honour of Saint Conrad
Other bonfires are related with religious beliefs: at Orsara on 1st November a festival which
reminds Halloween is celebrated. In fact candles are lit inside carved pumpkins but with a
different meaning from Halloween. In fact in this festival the stress in on light rather than on
darkness as candles aim at purifying souls. On the evening of 11th January of each year at
Castellana Grotte bonfires are lit instead to thank Our Lady of Vetrana for having saved the
town from a plague.
St. Orontius is also venerated for having saved the scenic town of Ostuni from a plague in 1657.
From 1793 the patron statue is followed on a Cavalcata (horse ride) by 30 men who, in a uniform
resembling the Napoleonic style, ride 30 richly barded horse along the small and climbing streets of
the town. Another important procession is held on Corpus Christi to commemorate the King of

4. France’s miraculous landing near Brindisi. In fact Saint Luis was coming back from the Holy Land
with the Eucharist, that Saladin had given him back for his respect of a deal, when he was
overtaken by a wild storm. He prayed and he survived the bad weather and the old archbishop rode
towards him with a white horse to save the Eucharist.
The Cavalcata of Ostuni and the Procession of the Cavallo Parato held at Brindisi
During the Holy Week processions reminding the Passion and Death of Christ are held throughout
the region: bare-footed and hooded processions are held in towns such as Taranto and
Noicattaro. Moving commemorative processions take place in many other towns of the region,
accompanied, sometimes in the middle of the night, by suggestive funeral marches. The
processions of the Five Mysteries and of the Passion of Molfetta, which work their way through
the streets of the town on Holy Friday and on Holy Saturday, are among the most famous of them.
Molfetta - The Pietà group of the Holy Saturday procession
The Challenge of Barletta, the battle which took place on 13th February 1503 when 13 Italian
Knights fought against 13 French Knights (and which is re-enacted each year in summer), is one of
the events related to pageants.

5. The Challenge of Barletta and the Scamiciata of Fasano
Historical rides reminding the period of Frederick’s II rule (with costume parades, medieval
tournaments and flag flyers shows) are held in many towns, in particular at Oria and at
Torremaggiore, the countryside district where the emperor died. One of the most famous historical
pageant, called the Scamiciata, is held on the third week of June at Fasano. It is the re-enactment
of the definitive victory of the inhabitants of this town over the Turks after years of raids.
Another deep-rooted festival is Carnival, when artistic papier-mâché floats parade along the main
streets of many towns of the region. Putignano boasts one of the most important Carnival festivals
in Italy. It starts on 26th December and for this reason it is one of the longest Carnivals in the world.
In fact in 1394, on that day, the corpse of Saint Stephen was brought to this town from Monopoli.
Farinella, a jester whose names comes from a peasant soup made of chickpea and barley flour
(farina) is the symbol of this Carnival, which is also held in a summer edition.
Other important Carnival festivals are held at Manfredonia, Gallipoli (where it starts, on 17th
January, with a bonfire lit to venerate St. Anthony the Abbot) and at Massafra, where there are no
crowd control barriers and people are directly involved in entertainment and fun.
Other traditions are further evidence of the special bonds between religion and countryside life:
the Feast of The Triumphal Cart, which reminds a contest in which a cart carrying the painting of
a Madonna was put half-way between the towns of Terlizzi and Bitonto and was won by the ox in
the direction of Terlizzi; the rite of the propitiatory Cross which is held every year in Molfetta.

6. This cross is covered with fresh fruit and land products and is taken in procession from the
Cathedral to the entranceway of the old town, where it is hung. Or the habit of eating plain moon-
shaped fritters filled with onions, or mozzarella or other ingredients on 11th November, S.Martin’s
day. This habit was started by the owner of a vast olive grove who, in order celebrate a big crop of
olives, had a big party where he offers fritters to all his farm workers. Another special event is
the banquet of St. Joseph, which is held on 18th and 19th of March in San Marzano (Taranto):
during this festival everyone can pick up food from the big tables which are laid in the square and
in the streets of the town.
A unique festival, during which flower floats parade, is held in Terlizzi, called the Town of
Flowers.

7. Some cultural festivals have also become famous in the last few decades, in particular the opera
Festival della Valle D’Itria - which is held in Martina Franca in the months of July and August –
and the Castel dei Mondi Festival, a theatre festival held in August and September in the famous
castle and in the surrounding town of Andria.
Most land and sea products are the theme of hundreds of food festivals which give the chance to
make people taste genuine locally grown or locally made products. They give also the chance to
spend leisure time with entertainment and fun. In fact many sagre are the occasion to listen to live
music or take part in concerts where pop stars are invited. In spite of the fact that food festivals are
often organised in summer some of them can be obviously organised only in the period a product is
cropped or produced.
Food festivals dedicated to orecchiette are organised at Martina Franca (on 12th July) Bisceglie
and Deliceto (both at the beginning of August). Other wheat products are also the theme of many
food festivals: festivals of focacce (thick pizzas topped with tomatoes) are organised at Cassano
delle Murge on 16th and 17th August and at Valenzano (on the 1st week of August); a festival of
calzone (a thick pizza stuffed with red onions and other ingredients) is organised on 16th and 17th
October at Acquaviva delle Fonti where a red onion festival is also held in the same period. At
Bari a festival dedicated to baked wheat products is held in the last week of October; at
Giovinazzo a festival dedicated to bread rolls filled with oil preserved food (the so-called
granny’s roll) is among the summer events calendar. In Salento there are several sagre of friselle
(dried bread which is dampened with water and topped with tomatoes, olive oil, oregano and salt).
Fruit festivals are also held in many towns: a cherry variety called ferrovia (which means
railway, because these cherries are exported all over Europe) is produced at Conversano and Turi
where they are celebrated in June; delicious peaches from Canosa are honoured in this town from
31st July to 1st August; watermelons refresh people at Melpignano on 21 July; grapes, which in
the past were picked up while people danced and sang, can be tasted from August till September in
the squares of Adelfia, Rutigliano, Noicattaro and Grottaglie. At Rutigliano, a town which also
dedicates a festival to its earthenware whistles on St. Anthony the Abbot’s day, a prize is
awarded to the biggest bunch of grapes.
A wine-tasting national festival called Calici di Stelle is also held in many towns, a good to taste
delicious Apulia wines
Among the festivals which best characterize Apulian summers are those dedicated to sea products:
urchins are eaten at Porto Badisco on 4th in August, octopuses can be eaten raw o grilled at

8. Torre Canne - a hamlet of Fasano - or at the end of July at the spectacular festival of Mola di
Bari. At Molfetta, one of the most famous fishing ports of the Adriatic Sea, a festival in where
people can taste blue fish is held in July.
Some festivals are dedicated to vegetables: the asparagus festival, organized at Candela in June
and the artichoke festivals of San Ferdinando di Puglia (from 23rd to 26th October) and
Trinitapoli (from 27th November to 1st December).
In autumn several food festivals are obviously dedicated to olive oil and, one of them, called
Frantoi aperti, concerns thirty oil mills of the following tows: Adelfia, Alberobello, Andria,
Bisceglie, Bitonto, Bitritto, Castellana Grotte, Conversano, Monopoli, Molfetta, Palo del
Colle, Sannicandro, Toritto and Trani.
Tasty cardoncelli mushrooms can be eaten on the itinerant and original festival which takes place
in the astonishing landscape of Higher Murge but also at Noci (at the beginning of October) and
Putignano (in October and November).
Other autumn festivals concern the new wines which are produced in this period and which are
often matched with chestnuts. The most famous one is held in the courtyards of Noci (the so-called
gnostre) where in December another famous festival, called Pettole nelle Gnostre, gives visitors
the chance of eating delicious fritters coated with chocolate.
People who like food festivals should not miss the Sagra della zampina on 25 and 26th September
at Sammichele di Bari. This sagra is based on a sausage made of mixed minced meat and seasoned
with sheep cheese, parsley, hot pepper and fresh tomato; it is put into bowels, rolled up and roasted
on traditional barbecues. Visitor can eat zampine at the outdoor tables laid out by butchers.
A real treat!!
And if you come in summer, do not lose at least one of the evenings dedicated to the pizzica and
the tarantella folk dances.
The pizzica is danced in Salento and has its roots in the belief people had that women who were
bitten by a spider while they were working in the fields, in order to free themselves from this
venom, had to dance for long hours at the endless obsessive rhythm of tambourines which induced
a natural trance.

9. A lot of evenings are dedicated in Salento to the pizzica folk dance, but the most spectacular one is
the so-called Notte della Taranta, which is held at Melpignano at the end of August. On that
occasion young people jump and whirl all night long, entranced by the rhythm of this captivating
Apulian music. The pizzica has been included in the immaterial heritage list of the Unesco and
has been defined as the Italian blues by the Wall Street Journal (because as the blues, it is deeply-
rooted in peasant life and it is extremely popular among people from all walks of life)
The Carpino Folk Festival is the most important showcase of the tarantella and is a further
tourist attraction for those who spend their summer in the Gargano promontory. The word
tarantella refers to all the other Southern Italian dances that have spread from the Modern Age
on. In the Gargano area tarantelle are mainly serenades dedicated to the beloved woman and were
sung in the streets of the small villages of this area. Guitars, tambourines and castanets are
essential instruments of this music.