Bonfire of Brotherhood (St. Anthony Abbot's Fire)

The Bonfire of Brotherhood in Carlantino

Every year, on the eve of St. Anthony Abbot, the small village of Carlantino, in the province of Foggia, gathers around a large bonfire lit on the churchyard of the Chapel of the Most Holy Annunciation. In 2026, this ancient ritual took on a new name and meaning, becoming the Bonfire of Brotherhood: no longer just a propitiatory fire for the patron saint of animals, but a symbolic embrace between communities sharing the same Samnite roots, straddling the border between Puglia and Molise.

The fire of St. Anthony, lit in mid-January, has for centuries marked the moment when winter begins to yield to the approaching Carnival season. In Carlantino, a village overlooking Lake Occhito in the far north of the Monti Dauni, the flame becomes the center of an evening of conviviality, popular devotion, and spectacle.

The 'ndocciatori of Agnone and the Maitunat of Gambatesa

The heart of the event is the encounter with two fascinating Molise traditions. From nearby Molise come the 'ndocciatori of Agnone (province of Isernia), bearers of the famous 'ndocce, enormous fan-shaped torches that, when lit and paraded through the village streets, create a true «river of fire». The 'ndocciata of Agnone was recognized in 2011 by the Ministry of Tourism as a Heritage of Italy for Tradition.

Accompanying the festival are the Maitunat of Gambatesa (province of Campobasso), goliardic singers who improvise rhyming stornelli, playfully teasing citizens and public figures in a poetic, folk art passed down from generation to generation. The large community bonfire is surrounded by tastings of local products and music, in an atmosphere of shared joy.

St. Anthony Abbot and the fire rituals of the Monti Dauni

St. Anthony Abbot, an Egyptian hermit considered the father of Christian monasticism and venerated as the protector of domestic animals, is at the center of a dense network of fire rituals that, every January 16th and 17th, illuminate the villages of the Monti Dauni: from Rocchetta Sant'Antonio to Pietramontecorvino, from Biccari to Roseto Valfortore and Alberona. The bonfires, fueled by brushwood and wood collected by the community, have a value that is simultaneously religious, propitiatory, and a form of social gathering.

The Association of Ancient Ritual Fires

With the 2026 edition, Carlantino signed the memorandum of understanding to join the Association of Ancient Ritual Fires, founded in 2022 on the initiative of Agnone's mayor, Daniele Saia. The network now brings together twenty-seven Italian municipalities spread across Molise, Puglia, Abruzzo, Tuscany, and Umbria, united by the tradition of great fires. For Carlantino, joining the association represented, in the words of the Culture Delegate Daniela Cafano, «a great honor and a great emotion», a gesture of high symbolic value that establishes a new friendship between two communities born of the same Samnite history.

Carlantino, the village on Lake Occhito

Located in the Subappennino Dauno, at the northern tip of the province of Foggia and on the border with Molise, Carlantino is a small municipality overlooking the Occhito reservoir, the large artificial lake of the Fortore river. It is a land of nature, silence, and peasant traditions, where the Bonfire of Brotherhood offers residents and visitors an authentic opportunity to discover the deepest soul of the Monti Dauni.