Festival of Saint Egidio the Abbot and Mountain Festival

A festival that climbs the mountain

In Bojano, a town in the Matese region in the province of Campobasso, the Festival of Saint Egidio the Abbot is one of the most cherished events of the year – so much so that many Bojanese consider it even more representative of their identity 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 Mount Matese, amidst 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 Mountain Festival

After the masses and the procession with the saint's effigy, the Mountain Festival erupts: benches, braziers, games of morra, tents adorned with flowers among the clearings, nights of chatter under the stars. Popular tradition holds that Saint Egidio lived right here, nourished by the milk of a doe – the animal depicted next to the saint in the statue in the small church. A festival that, once a year, brings everyone back to that simple measure of things that feels like home.