Feast of Saint Anthony Abbot and Our Mother Earth

A Peasant Festival in the Bassa Veronese

The Feast of Saint Anthony Abbot and Our Mother Earth takes place every year in mid-January in Concamarise, a municipality in the Bassa Veronese area, in the province of Verona. It is organized by the Confraternita dei Nostalgici del Tabar di Sant'Antonio Abate (Brotherhood of Tabar Nostalgics of Saint Anthony Abbot), with the patronage of the Municipality, and celebrates Saint Anthony Abbot, protector of animals and the peasant world.

Rites and Traditions

The heart of the day is both religious and rural: Mass with the blessing of the salt, a procession with the saint's statue, the solemn blessing of the animals, and the National Tabar Gathering, the ancient Venetian cloak symbol of the brotherhood. There are also awards and the brotherhood's annual recognition of figures who have promoted Venetian agriculture.

The Casa Contadina

The festival is closely linked to the Casa Contadina (Peasant House) at via Capitello 47, a museum of peasant civilization that preserves tools, environments, and memories of rural life of the past. The event reaffirms its message every year: "the earth must be loved, respected, and protected".

The Twinning with Bovolone

The celebrations continue in the nearby town of Bovolone, with a gathering of vintage tractors, demonstrations of ancient crafts like wood-fired cheesemaking, agricultural product exhibitions, agricultural modeling, and convivial moments, in a journey that intertwines the towns of the Veronese plain around the agricultural roots of the territory.