Festa della Madonna del Dosso

A festival lasting for centuries

The Festa della Madonna del Dosso, also known as the Sagra della Pollastrella, is the most important celebration for the inhabitants of Casalmoro, in the Alto Mantovano area and the Province of Mantua. It takes place every year on November 21st, coinciding with the Presentation of Mary at the Temple, following unwritten rules passed down for at least two centuries from generation to generation.

The 'mortaretti', the soul of the festival

The most characteristic element is the explosion of the 'mortaretti': large conical trunks of heavy metal, filled with gunpowder. It is the Gruppo Mortaristi that prepares them, following a difficult and laborious process: the powder is pressed with large, heavy mallets, sometimes even during the night, according to an ancient rite now deeply rooted in the town's people. The shots accompany the key moments of the day, from dawn until the solemn celebrations.

Celebrations at the sanctuary

The day revolves around the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Dosso, located on Via Valle Maria. It begins with the traditional early morning mass at 5:30 AM, preceded and followed by the firing of the 'mortaretti', which also mark the Elevation and the solemn blessing. A sequence of rites and sounds that creates a unique atmosphere, suspended between the sacred and the popular.

Between legend and identity

According to tradition, near the site where the sanctuary now stands, there was a furnace where clay blocks would break due to excessive heat; the workers decided to pray to an image of the Madonna kept in a nearby shrine and, thanks to their prayers, the furnace resumed production and the painting became an object of renewed veneration. From this legendary origin, a devotion is born that, in Casalmoro, is renewed every year with the festival, a symbol of the town's deepest identity.