Calendar of Events
Pacentro
- January 6th - Epiphany- This is a big event in Pacentro with a re-enactment of Joseph and Mary on a donkey passing through the streets asking for a room to stay, and then the visit to the manger of the kings and shepherds.. The streets are busy with people, and houses and cantinas are opened up to re-enact scenes from the old days or cook cucina povera food. Different contadas host the Epiphany celebrations each year. Aparently the Witch La Befana also puts presents in children's stockings.
- 16 - 17 January - Feast of San Antonio Abate - Celebrated in villages in the Abruzzo region with very large bonfire. We have seen a huge one at Castel Sagra.
- March 25th - Feast of the Annunciation.
- Easter – Good Friday - The Holy Procession of crucifixion.
- April 25th – The festival of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the original patron saint of Pacentro, with a fair and release of the typical hot air balloon made by the children of the village, from Piazza Umberto I.
- May - Feast of S. Mary of Mercy, the church in Piazza del Popolo.
- June 2nd – Independence day. Seems to consist of fireworks and a rock band in Piazza Umberto I
- June - Second Sunday - Feast of Corpus Domini with a solemn procession over flowers of broom and thyme. The procession leaves the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Piazza del Popolo after mass around 6:30 pm and winds for some time through the streets of Pacentro. Villagers hang embrodered linen over their balconies, and make beautiful patterns with the flower petals on the pavement.
- July - Festa del Ritorno – Third weekend in July – Run by the Rivera Pacentro agricultural Cooperative to pay homage to citizens of Pacentro and Valle Peligna, who emigrated, ‘for the benefit of the cultural and human renewal of those who stayed and of future generations’. There is a communal meal in Piazza del Popolo in the evening with music and many stalls and events.
- August - Second weekend - Sagra della Polta – Town festival of Polta, which is real cuchina povera, and seems to be a mixture of potatoes cabbage and peas, piccante with chilli or dolci without. The Sagra della Polta is good fun. One of the piazza's (it differs each year) is set up with tables and polta is sold with sausages and other local food. Everyone sits down together and there is music and dancing.
- August – A re-enactment of the historical calling up of the men at arms of Antonio Caldora in 1450. There are many events and processions and lots of pageantry. It finishes with fireworks and a communal meal under the stars.
- September – First Sunday - Festa della Madonna di Loreto con la Corsa degli Zingari Our garden provides a grandstand view of the race. Contestants run barefoot from the stone with the Italian flag painted on it, across the ravine from our garden, to our church Madonna di Loreto. Afterwards the winners are carried shoulder high through the town, and there is music and dancing in Piazza Umberto I. Make must sure you are well stocked up in the house as you might not be able to get our for a while, with the crowds.
- October - First Sunday - Festa della Madonna del Rosario, and release of the typical giant paper hot air balloon from Piazza Umberto I, where the whole village turn out.
- November - First Sunday - Festa di San Carlo Borremeo, with the release of a giant paper hot air balloon from Piazza Umberto I, where the whole village turn out. Also brass bands playing through the village several times during the day and a special band on a stage in Piazza Umberto 1
- November - Second Sunday - Procession to remember the fallen in war, with a special reference to the suffering in Abruzzo after the 1943 bombardments at Monte Cassino and the Gustav line. The children of Pacentro in particular remember stories from that time. Again a band makes its way round the village.
- December 30th – Nativity play in medieval country style ending at the grotta of the Nativity at the Fountain del Vallone.
Sulmona
- The Market - There is a market in Sulmona on Wednesday and Saturday in the morning. This is well worth a visit.
- Easter Morning Sulmona is famous for the celebration of the "Madonna che Scappa",(Madonna running away) in Piazza Garibaldi, when the statue of the Madonna, covered in a black robe, from the church of San Filippo Neri is carried shoulder high by young men at midday. They start to run when "she" recognizes the statue of resurrected Christ. At that moment her black veil and white scarf fall down leaving the green mantle and the rose, as metaphors for winter surrendering to spring.
- July - last week Joust or Giostra Cavalleresca, among the seven borghi and sestrieri, with armour and horses.
Cocullo
Tivoli
- August 14th Procession of the Inchlinata (Virgin Bowing)
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Last updated
November 24, 2009