Events and Festivals to Look Out For

Happening soon

12 April 18.30 Presentation of the new book "Il caso Volpe 132" by Pier Giorgio Pinna in the ex. Seminar theater, followed by a consert: 19.30 "Dall'800 a morricone"with Cristina Scalas on flute and Davide Mocci on Guitarr.

13-20 April "Settimana Santa", easter processions in Cuglieri Palm Sunday. When Christ entered Jerusalem on a donkey, people welcomed him by strewing palm leaves on the ground in front of him. In Cuglieri, palm leaves are braided into crosses and blessed during the 11 o’clock mass.

Thursday

This day Jesus’ Last Supper is celebrated. It begins in the Basilica with the priest washing the feet of twelve members of the church fraternities in memory of Jesus washing the apostles feet. After that everybody goes to one of Cuglieri’s many churches to visit the burial vaults.

Good Friday

Friday morning begins at the Chiesa della Madonna delle Grazie, close to our house, with the rite of the Crucifixion. After that there is a procession up to the Basilica. Christ on the cross is carried by three people. There is also a ‘counter-cross’. This is a cross carried by one person whose prayers have been met.

The biggest procession is on Friday Evening. Almost the whole village gathers at the convent. Each of Cuglieri's seven churches is represented by groups of men dressed in white robes with different coloured sashes depending on the church. The procession proceeds to the basilica where Christ is symbolically removed from the cross.

Easter Sunday

On the day of Christ’s resurrection a procession is held from the Chiesa di Santa Croce to the Basilica.

Pasquetta

On Monday, everything's closed and people use to spend the day in the countryside with family and friends with a picnic. Some restaurants organize a pasquetta-menu.

During the Year

There are numerous festivals in Sardinia. Almost every weekend something happens. Most of the best one's are off-season done by people locally for themselves - to create a sense of community and enjoyment when they have less work than during the summer season. Here are a few in the Cuglieri area.

from the S'Artiglia in March

16 -17 January: Sant'Antonio de su fogu's feast (Saint Anthony and his fire). The traditional Mediterranean story told about Saint Anthony is that he was a swineherd in the days when there was no fire on earth, only in hell. With his favourite swine he descended to hell and knocked on the door. Because of the ruckus the swine caused, they managed to fool the devils into letting him take fire away in his staff. In Cuglieri, this is celebrated by a bonfire being lit each year. After it is blessed, wine and cakes are consumed together. The following day there is mass in the Basilica. 18 -19 January: San Sebastiano Just a few days later there is a chance to catch another bonfire during the festival of San Sebastiano. Most often depicted as being shot full of arrows, Saint Sebastian survived. According to Wikipedia he was later clubbed to death, but in Cuglieri it is said that he was burned to death. It is a bit unexpected that two days after celebrating the arrival of fire to human beings, another bonfire is lit in Cuglieri to remember a saint martyred by fire. In any case, bonfires are great during the winter. A day later, a procession carries the effigy of Saint Sebastian around Cuglieri. The basilica is decorated with laurels onto which oranges have been fastened. In February or March: Carnevale and S'Artiglia Lent, the 40 days preceding Easter, is a period of spiritual contemplation and fasting. Before that, one last period of extravagance and rule-breaking is allowed - the Carnival. The word has its origin in the Italian word 'carne' meaning meat and carnevale is therefore a 'farewell to meat' or 'farewell to the flesh'. In some places it can go on for a month, but in Cuglieri it takes place on Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). It is the opportunity for wizened old men to put on lipstick and blond wigs and get drunk. Floats with different themes parade through the village.

The carnevale is just before the event of Sartiglia, which has been going for 500 years, every year including during the wars, except for 2021 because of Covid. It is a two-day competition of horsemen to show their technical skills and is a major event in Oristano. In the village of Santu Lussurgiu there is also a group horse race in the midst of the small village. These events are not to be missed if you have any possibility, as it is a strange, interesting and colourful display of Sardinian costumes and medieval traditions.

Easter Palm Sunday When Christ entered Jerusalem on a donkey, people welcomed him by strewing palm leaves on the ground in front of him. In Cuglieri, palm leaves are braided into crosses and blessed during the 11 o’clock mass. Maundy Thursday This day Jesus’ Last Supper is celebrated. It begins in the Basilica with the priest washing the feet of twelve members of the church fraternities in memory of Jesus washing the apostles feet. After that everybody goes to one of Cuglieri’s many churches to visit the burial vaults. Good Friday Friday morning begins at the Chiesa della Madonna delle Grazie, close to our house, with the rite of the Crucifixion. After that there is a procession up to the Basilica. Christ on the cross is carried by three people. There is also a ‘counter-cross’. This is a cross carried by one person whose prayers have been met.

The biggest procession is on Friday Evening. Almost the whole village gathers at the convent. Each of Cuglieri's seven churches is represented by groups of men dressed in white robes with different coloured sashes depending on the church. The procession proceeds to the basilica where Christ is symbolically removed from the cross. Easter Sunday On the day of Christ’s resurrection a procession is held from the Chiesa di Santa Croce to the Basilica. End of April: Beer Festival in Bosa Craft beer producers from all over Sardinia gather once a year for four days of music, lectures, discussions, parties, eating and of course beer tasting.

29-30 April: Santa Imbenia Santa Imbenia isthe patron saint of Cuglieri whose relics are kept in the Basilica. Once a year they are taken to a small chapel dedicated to Santa Imbenia on a hill outside of Cuglieri. Next day they are taken back to the Basilica.

The second Sunday of May: Santa Caterina At 8 in the morning everybody gathers to walk behind the statue of Santa Caterina carried on an ox-cart. The procession is led by men and a few women riding on slender native Anglo-Arabic Sardo horses. The twelve kilometre walk to Santa Caterina takes almost three hours, with numerous stops for glasses of wine and local snacks provided by farmers along the way. On arrival, everybody walks three times around the church. In the past, one spent the night in Santa Catarina, but nowadays friends and relatives will assist with driving one back to Cuglieri for the night. The following day the procession returns to Cuglieri after once again going round the church three times. 23-24 June: San Giovanni Battista

The festival on the 24th of June celebrates that San Giovanni Battista (St John the Baptist) was born exactly six months before Christ. This happens to approximately coincide with the June solstice, or Midsummer as it is celebrated in Northern Europe.

On the eve of the festival, the 23rd of June, people walk to the outskirts of Cuglieri for the S’Abba Muda (Silent Water) ritual. They take the road towards Santu Lussurgiu until they reach Tiu Memmere’s Spring. Everybody walks along the side of the road by themselves, or with their closest. The centre of the road is left empty. That is where the dead accompany one. At the spring, people wash themselves and drink in silence. Returning to Cuglieri nobody is supposed to look backwards. The spring dates back to pre-Christian Nuraghic times. It is claimed that it is called Tiu (uncle) Memmere’s Spring because Uncle Memmere, not so long ago, would serenade the women of Cuglieri while they were doing their washing there.

On the morning of the 24th, mass is held at the San Giovanni church on Via Vittorio Emanuele. In the evening around 6.30 pm there is another procession. An effigy of San Giovanni is carried around Cuglieri. Riders on horseback accompany the procession, which ends with the Eucharist. 6-7 July: Ardia in Sedilo Every year, on the evening of Sedilo is a village about 45 km from Cuglieri. Every year, on the evening of the 6th and the following morning, there is San Costantino's Ardia. The Ardia is a wild ride on horseback made in honor of St. Constantine. Constantine defeated Maxentius at the Battle of Ponte Milvio (a bridge across the Tiber River in Rome). This gave him sole control over the Roman Empire after a period of fractious fighting. Constantine had a vision on the eve of the battle, which inspired him to fight under the protection of the Christian God. Once in power he ended the persecution of Christians and introduced religious freedom. His victory meant the breakthrough for Christianity in the Roman Empire and later the whole of Europe. At the start of the battle, Constantine’s cavalry dispersed the enemy cavalry, giving him enough edge to win the battle. In the Ardia, Constantine’s side is led by a capocorsa, a standard bearer. The standard bearer decides at any time and without notice the start of the race. Other riders represent the pagans.

4-7 August: Santa Maria della Neve

These festive days contain a multitude of events - poetry readings, activities for children, religious rites, concerts, cabarets, lunch for everybody, and fireworks.

9-10 August: San Lorenzo The Festival of San Lorenzo is one of the festivals we have attended. Held on a sweltering 10th of August, everybody gathers in the nearby country in the shade of tall elegant trees called leccio, a type of oak. We arrived late and all the tables and chairs were taken, so we sat down on the steps of the chapel. Immediately people unknown to us rushed over with chairs and a table that they found somewhere. Like everybody else we received free food cooked by a brigade of volunteers. In addition, people plied us with wine and cake when they realised that we had not understood that one had to bring those oneself. For dessert we ate fantastic torrone, nougat, made on the spot. After the meal, there was a discotheque for the young ones. In the evening typical Sardinian folk songs are sung. 8 September: Beata Vergine delle Grazie The day begins with religious rites and in the afternoon there is the albero della cuccagna, a competition involving climbing up a greasy pole. In the evening folk groups and others perform. In the 1965 film Una questione d'onore, a crucial turning point from comedy to tragedy takes place during this festival. A person is shot when he reaches the top of the greasy pole. The good-natured hero, a shepherd played by Ugo Tognazzi, witnesses this. He is illegally visiting the village to consummate his marriage to his beautiful wife, played by one of Tarantino's favourite actresses - Nicoletta Macchiavelli. She becomes pregnant. The hero is forced to choose between breaking the code of silence to incriminate a fellow citizen or continue to pretend he was not there and have his wife being accused of being unfaithful and his child a bastard. At the time, the film was considered very controversial in Sardinia. The director had transferred a Sicilian story to Sardinia, because he thought Sardinia was more beautiful (or perhaps it was safer). Sardinians were appalled because there was no code of silence in Sardinia. On top of that, the film showed lactating breasts and Sardinians swearing openly. Nonetheless, it was grudgingly accepted that the film also captured Sardinian weddings and festivals the way they were.

You can see the film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM8kKF3Coz0.

Mid September: Il festival della Bottarga a Cabras. Food festival with cooking classes. 24 December: Midnight mass