Festival of the Madunù

The devotion of the Madunù in Dossena

The Festa del Madunù is the most heartfelt religious festival in Dossena, a village in the Val Brembana in the province of Bergamo. It is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows and takes its popular name from the «Madunù»: the monumental wooden group, weighing several quintals, which depicts the Virgin of Sorrows with the body of the dead Christ and angels in life-size, which arrived in the ancient parish church in the mid-nineteenth century.

A centuries-old tradition

The festival has its roots in the second half of the nineteenth century and boasts over a century and a half of history, being renewed from generation to generation. For the community of Dossena, it represents much more than a religious occasion: it is an event of identity that brings together the village and its emigrants, a guardian of deep devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. For the recent edition, the statue has been restored, returning the simulacrum to its ancient splendor.

Celebrations, fireworks, and procession

The program alternates between solemn liturgical celebrations and more popular events: holy masses with sermons, Eucharistic adoration, evening fireworks displays, and on the day of the Solemnity, Vespers and the evocative procession accompanied by the Musical Corps that winds through the village streets. An intertwining of the sacred and the festive that attracts faithful and visitors to Dossena every year, confirming the Madunù as the heart of the religious identity of the Brembana community.