Festival of Our Lady of the Plain

A Festival Dating Back to the 16th Century

At the foot of the Pollino mountains, in the Sinni Valley, the village of Episcopia preserves one of the most ancient and fascinating folk festivals in Basilicata: the Festival of Our Lady of the Plain, celebrated every year on August 4th and 5th. The tradition is linked to the discovery of the statue of the Madonna inside a hollow oak tree around the 16th century, during the harvest season: hence the inseparable bond between the devotion and the wheat.

The Scythe Dance

The most exciting moment is the ancient scythe dance: the faithful, in traditional costume (the 'pacchianelli' and 'pacchianelle'), dance holding wooden scythes on the parvis of the sanctuary. The men offer the gregne, sheaves of wheat, to the Madonna, while the women wear the scigli, woven crowns of ears of wheat: gestures that transform the harvest into a votive offering and thanksgiving for prosperity.

The Procession

After the solemn Mass, the wooden statue of Our Lady of the Plain — depicted with a mantle embroidered with stars — is carried in procession, accompanied by the band and the devotion of an entire community. The Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Piano, located about three kilometers from the town, becomes the heart of a day of faith, music, and folk dances.

Memory and Identity

Documented even by the newsreels of the Istituto Luce in the 1920s and 1930s, the Episcopia festival is a living heritage of Lucanian peasant culture. Experienced by the Municipality and the entire community, it attracts residents and emigrants returning each summer in a ritual that intertwines the sacred and the profane, earth and sky, work and devotion.