Festa dei Candelieri

Each year, the city of Sassari, in Sardinia, celebrates Festa dei Candelieri, marking the reason of Mary saving the people from the plague. This celebration is the moment when the whole community of Sassari can be found, together, for the spectacular descent of candlesticks along the city streets to the church of Santa Maria di Betlem.

This celebration is more than 700 years old and involves huge tall wooden structures weighting around 400 kilos, brought around the streets by city men that lift them on their shoulders. They are accompanied by tambourine players, who beat the rhythm for their dancing movements. Tradition says that the more the column will dance, the better will be the year.

Ten gremi, which includes associations of workers like shoemakers, farmers, masons and so on participate, each with its own candeliere or the wooden structure, adorned with paper garlands, ribbons, flowers and little flags. Apart from the religious activities, grilled meat is also part of the festival, together with folkloristic dances and music. As in most Italian festivals, fireworks conclude the celebrations with a bang!

It is an eye fiesta to witness these celebrations and it is suggested that you be there to enjoy these festivities while you are in Italy on a holiday in August. It is a good idea to hire a car to reach the city of Sassari from places around and enjoy the festivities to the core. It is easy to rent a car in Italy as there are many companies like Car Rental Italy that offer car hire options at economical rates. www.car-rental-italy.com provides cars on hire at economical prices and has special packages on offer especially for the tourists visiting Italy. They have on offer a wide variety of cars to cater to your individual needs from 2 door economy cars to 9 seat Minivans, automatic transmission cars and much more, to give you a hassle free commuting experience during your holiday in Italy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

* Copy This Password *

* Type Or Paste Password Here *

38,514 Spam Comments Blocked so far by Spam Free Wordpress