Madonie festivals and traditions: calendar and rituals

Traditions in the Madonie are almost all tied to the religious calendar and to the farming year. The high points are Holy Week (Cefalù and Petralia Sottana), Whit Monday with the Miracula of Gangi, Sant’Anna in Castelbuono in late July, the Giostra dei Ventimiglia and the Ballo della Cordella in August, and the nativity scenes in December. Several rituals are listed in the Register of Intangible Heritage of the Sicilian Region.

At a glance

• Spring: carnival in Castellana Sicula and Collesano, Holy Week, the Crucifix feasts of Isnello and Geraci (1-3 May), the Transhumance in Geraci, the Spirito Santo in Gangi.
• Summer: Saints Peter and Paul in Petralia Soprana (29 June), ’A Fera in San Mauro Castelverde, Sant’Anna in Castelbuono (25-27 July), the Giostra dei Ventimiglia, the Santissimo Salvatore and the ’Ntinna a mari in Cefalù (6 August), the Ballo della Cordella.
• Autumn: San Nicola and the frottole in Isnello (7 September), the Fera di San Gandolfo in Polizzi (third Sunday of September).
• Winter: living nativity in Gangi (26-29 December), the Via dei presepi and Magico Natale in Cefalù.
• In the Register of Intangible Heritage: Ballo della Cordella, frottole of Isnello, the feast of San Bartolomeo and the Transhumance of Geraci Siculo.

Calendar of Madonie traditions

This table lists the traditional festivals we follow in our events section, with their usual period. Exact dates for each year are on the linked event pages.

Period	Festival	Town
February-March	Carnevale delle Madonie, allegorical floats	Castellana Sicula
February-March	Carnival and the Peppe ’Nnappa contest	Collesano
Saturday before Palm Sunday	Passion play on piazza Duomo	Cefalù
Holy Week	processions and Easter ’Ncuontru	Petralia Sottana, Cefalù
29 April-1 May	Santissimo Crocifisso and frottole	Isnello
3 May	Santissimo Crocifisso	Geraci Siculo
late May	Festa della Transumanza	Geraci Siculo
Whit Monday	Spirito Santo and Miracula	Gangi
18 June	San Calogero	Petralia Sottana
25-29 June	Saints Peter and Paul	Petralia Soprana
early July	’A Fera, San Mauro Abate	San Mauro Castelverde
25-27 July	Sant’Anna	Castelbuono
first weekend of August	Giostra dei Ventimiglia	Geraci Siculo
6 August	Santissimo Salvatore and ’Ntinna a mari	Cefalù
Sunday after 15 August	Ballo della Cordella	Petralia Sottana
23-24 August	San Bartolomeo	Geraci Siculo
7 September	San Nicola and the Frottola	Isnello
third Sunday of September	Fera di San Gandolfo	Polizzi Generosa
26-29 December	living nativity	Gangi

All festivals, including non-traditional ones, are in the Madonie events calendar.

Holy Week

This is when the villages of the Madonie show their confraternities and old rituals most.

Petralia Sottana. On Good Friday the statues are carried up to the Calvary, a structure with three crosses guarded by men dressed as Roman soldiers, whom tradition calls “giudei”. The church bells fall silent and a wooden rattle, the trucculuni, sounds instead. At noon on Easter Sunday there is the ’Ncuontru: the Risen Christ and the Madonna move towards each other in the square and the Mother drops her black veil (Madoniedintorni). Programme and dates on the Holy Week in Petralia Sottana page.

Cefalù. On the evening of the Saturday before Palm Sunday the Passion play in piazza Duomo is performed, with the cathedral as backdrop. On Palm Sunday the procession goes from the church of Maria Santissima della Catena to the cathedral along corso Ruggero; on the evening of Good Friday the dead Christ and the Addolorata cross the town centre (Il Cefalino). Details on the Holy Week in Cefalù page.

The Miracula of Gangi

The Spirito Santo festival in Gangi lasts about ten days and peaks on Whit Monday. That day more than forty statues of saints leave the Chiesa Madre and are carried on shoulders down to the Sanctuary of the Spirito Santo, in the lower part of town.

In front of the church the bearers run back and forth three times with the statues on their shoulders: this is the Miracula ritual. In 2026 the festival ran from 14 to 25 May, 450 years after the dedication of the sanctuary (Madonie Press). The Spirito Santo festival in Gangi page has this year’s programme.

Sant’Anna in Castelbuono

Sant’Anna is the patron saint of Castelbuono and her relic, the saint’s skull, has been kept in the Palatine Chapel of the Ventimiglia castle for more than five hundred years. The festival opens with the novena in mid-July:

• on 25 July there is the Corteo delle Chiavi, the procession of the keys;
• on the 26th the international road race, the Giro di Castelbuono;
• on the 27th the bishop of Cefalù’s pontifical Mass and, in the evening, the procession with the relic through the streets.

These are the days when Castelbuono is at its busiest (Castelbuonolive). Dates and programme on the Festa di Sant’Anna page; the story of the relic is in our guide to the Madonie castles.

The Ballo della Cordella in Petralia Sottana

The Register of Intangible Heritage entry (Sicilian Region, CRicd) also calls it the “dance of jubilation”: a thanksgiving for a good wheat harvest, pagan in origin, later absorbed into the feasts of the Madonna dell’Alto, patron of Petralia Sottana. It has been in the Register since 4 October 2012.

How it works today:

1. At 3 pm the old wedding procession on horseback parades: bride and groom first, then bridesmaids and relatives.
2. At 5 pm, at the municipal sports ground, twelve couples, one for each month of the year, dance around a pole topped with a bunch of wheat ears.
3. Each dancer holds a coloured ribbon, u curdeddu: the couples weave it around the pole in four figures (sowing, germination, harvest, bread) and then unweave it by dancing in reverse.
4. Before they start, the dancers say a prayer to the Madonna dell’Alto.

It is danced on the first Sunday after 15 August: in 2026 on 16 August (Madoniedintorni). Event page: Ballo della Cordella.

The Giostra dei Ventimiglia in Geraci Siculo

The medieval re-enactment of Geraci, once the capital of the Ventimiglia county. On the first weekend of August there is an evening of theatre in the square, then on Sunday the knights’ oath, the historical parade in 14th-century costume and the tournament on horseback between the towns of the old county. Watching is free. In 2026, at its 36th edition, it was held on 1 and 2 August (Madonie Press).

Programme and dates on the Giostra dei Ventimiglia page.

Patron saint festivals not to miss

• Saints Peter and Paul, Petralia Soprana (29 June): after the morning alborata the great procession of the patron saints ends on piazza Duomo with the Stendardieri, the banner bearers. Page: Saints Peter and Paul.
• ’A Fera, San Mauro Castelverde (early July): nine days for San Mauro Abate, with the bishop’s Mass, processions and the blessing of the fields. Page: ’A Fera.
• Santissimo Salvatore, Cefalù (6 August): in the evening the statue of the Saviour crosses the town and the bishop speaks from the cathedral steps. In the afternoon, at the Vecchia Marina, there is the ’Ntinna a mari: contestants walk along a greased pole jutting out over the sea to grab the Saviour’s flag, and almost all of them end up in the water. Pages: Santissimo Salvatore and ’Ntinna a mari.
• San Bartolomeo, Geraci Siculo (23-24 August): the statues of San Bartolo and San Giacomo come out together carried by young men and stay side by side in the Chiesa Madre until the thanksgiving feast at the end of September. It is in the Register of Intangible Heritage. Page: San Bartolomeo.
• San Nicola, Isnello (7 September): in the afternoon the Frottola is sung, in the evening the statue comes out on a small float. Page: San Nicola.
• Fera di San Gandolfo, Polizzi Generosa (third Sunday of September): three processions with the statue and relics of the patron saint, an octave of prayers and concerts. In 2026 it was the 706th edition (Madoniedintorni). Page: Fera di San Gandolfo.

The frottole of Isnello

The frottole are sacred hymns in Sicilian, written between the 18th and 20th centuries and commissioned from Sicilian musicians and writers by the confraternities and congregations of Isnello. They are sung at village festivals, with choirs and the band. Since 16 October 2014 they have been listed in the Register of Intangible Heritage of Sicily, in the Book of Expressive Practices and Oral Repertoires (Sicilian Region).

You can hear them at the feast of the Santissimo Crocifisso in Isnello, on 1 May, and at San Nicola, on 7 September.

Shepherds, wheat and the countryside

Many Madonie traditions come from farm work.

• The Transhumance of Geraci Siculo, in late May: the herds climb to the mountain pastures through the village, on Sunday at 5 pm, with cheese made live and tastings. Since 2026 it has been in the Register of Intangible Heritage (Madonie Press). Page: Festa della Transumanza.
• The Ballo della Cordella, a thanksgiving for the wheat harvest.
• The votive breads of San Calogero, handed out by the confraternity in Petralia Sottana on 18 June. Page: San Calogero.
• The blessing of the fields during ’A Fera in San Mauro Castelverde.

Food festivals are in the Food section.

Carnival

• Carnevale delle Madonie in Castellana Sicula: since 1962, one Sunday of allegorical float parades. Page: Carnevale delle Madonie.
• Collesano Carnival: six days of festivities around the Peppe ’Nnappa contest for masks and dance halls, with the awards at dawn on Shrove Tuesday. Page: Collesano Carnival.

Christmas and nativity scenes

• Living nativity in Gangi, from 26 to 29 December in the Santa Lucia quarter: the scenes go from Nazareth to the Nativity, with departures every half hour from 5 pm to midnight. Book online in November, as places run out. Page: living nativity in Gangi.
• Presepe d’Incanto in Petralia Soprana, an artistic nativity scene in a former church with video mapping, from late December to 6 January. Page: Presepe d’Incanto.
• Via dei presepi in Cefalù, from 8 December to 6 January: nativity scenes in churches, courtyards and shop windows in the centre. Page: Via dei presepi.

Tips for seeing a festival

• Arrive early: Sant’Anna, the Miracula and the Cordella draw big crowds. Leave the car outside the old town.
• Book your accommodation early if you want to stay in the village. See where to stay in Castelbuono, in Gangi or in Petralia Sottana.
• Respect the ritual: processions are acts of faith. Do not step in front of the statues for a photo, and follow the confraternities’ instructions.
• Check the year: the dates of many festivals depend on Easter or on the village calendar. We confirm them on the event pages as soon as programmes come out.

The churches where processions start are in our guide to the Madonie churches.