Festivals and Celebrations

The cuckolds' feast and the rola festival

In Rocca Canterano, on the Sunday closest to November 11th, the feast of Saint Martin, the patron saint of cuckolds, is celebrated in a truly original way by combining food and wine and light-heartedness: the cuckolds' feast and the rola festival.

It all stems from the tradition of tasting the new wine with chestnuts and celebrating this day with a party, so they chose to celebrate the local chestnut, called Rola, and the 'cuckolds'. In the dialect, cuckolds are those people who have been betrayed by their partner and who are generally not used to self-irony.

Every year the 'cuckold of the year' is elected who is carried in procession on a throne and who is made to wear gigantic horns. The procession passes through the streets of the town with the symbols of betrayal and at the same time the people 'drown' their sorrows in a glass of new wine.

Music and other typical local products complete the weekend.

The Feast of Sta Caterina and Fair of the Coats (Festa di Santa Caterina and Fiera dei Cappotti) stems from the fact that the farmers had harvested and had the money to buy winter clothes.

A Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Cellino San Marco is religious festival for a cult probably introduced by the Basilian monks who brought so many saints of the East.

It is impossible to describe the variety of the offer of shows and summer events for a town that in summer reaches thousands of people a day in the playground park of Carrisiland.

You can listen to music in the square, in the alleys played by the new groups and even music coming out of the windows of the houses.

On the other hand, Puglia Lifestyle is given by the beauty of open-air evenings, to take an aperitif in a bar, eat outdoors, laugh with friends and breathe the scents of the night air.

Last week of July Feast of San Marco and Santa Caterina d'Alessandria of Egypt
Also called the “big” patronal festival with lights in the town, religious procession and folk festival.

Saint Benedict, patron saint of Europe, is highly revered in Militello Militello in Val di Catania.

The Feast of Saint Benedict begins on 3 July with the octave, but reaches its climax on 11 July with the procession through the city streets and various events that act as a "kit" for the religious festival.

The Feast of Maria Ausiliatrice takes place on May 24 at the Confraternity Church of Santa Maria dello Spasimo, from which the city's district takes its name.

The statue of the Madonna enthroned with the Child is carried in a procession on the shoulder.

The feast of St Sebastian occurs on January 20th and is deeply felt in Militello in Val di Catania.

The celebrations have already begun on the 18th at the church of the same name and end with the eucharistic celebration at the Church of Santa Maria della Stella.

After thirty years, the Festival of the Mostarda and Prickly Pear (Sagra della Mostrada and Ficodindia) in Militello in Val di Catania is an unmissable event that generally takes place the second weekend of October.

A mustard-based festival

The historic center of Militello is invaded by the scent of mustard, which emanates from the stands along Via Porta della Terra and the Atrium of the Castle.

Here you can taste the Prickly Pear Mustard, still steaming from the large cauldrons (i caddarùna) in traditional glazed terracotta tiles.

Numerous recreational events and guided visits to churches and cultural sites and, on the last day, the parade of traditional Sicilian carts, are offered by the Militello Pro Loco to the thousands of visitors who came to discover Militello.

In addition to tasting hot mustard, you can taste all the other products of the gastronomy of Militello in Val di Catania, such as cassatiddini, ‘nfasciatiddi, mastrazzola, whose main ingredients are generally almonds, vin cotto and prickly pears.