Festa di Sant'Egidio Abate e Festa della Montagna

A festival that climbs the mountain

In Bojano, a town in the Matese region in the province of Campobasso, the Feast of Sant'Egidio Abate is one of the most heartfelt events of the year — so much so that many Bojano residents consider it even more of an identity marker than the feast of the patron saint, San Bartolomeo. Its heart is the hermitage of Sant'Egidio, an ancient monastery from the 9th-10th centuries perched at about 1,025 meters on the eastern slope of Monte Matese, nestled among beech forests and a clear spring.

The Vigil and the Dawn Ascent

The festival spans two days. On August 31st, an evening procession winds through the city's neighborhoods, accompanied by a band, with convivial stops and impromptu banquets. At dawn on September 1st, families and groups of friends ascend towards the hermitage — backpacks on, tents rolled up, the last stretch on foot through cool shadows and clearings — to gather on the plateau to the sound of the band and bells.

The Festa della Montagna (Mountain Festival)

After the masses and the procession with the saint's effigy, the Festa della Montagna explodes: benches, braziers, games of morra (a traditional Italian betting game), tents adorned with flowers among the clearings, and nights of conversation under the stars. Popular tradition holds that Sant'Egidio lived right here, nourished by the milk of a doe — the animal depicted next to the saint in the statue in the little church. A festival that, once a year, brings everyone back to that simple measure of things that feels like home.