Festival of the Trumpets (Feast of Saints Peter and Paul)

A ritual unique to Grottaglie

Every June 29th, the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, the historic center of Grottaglie—in the province of Taranto, in the heart of Puglia—relives one of the most original traditions in the entire region: the Festival of the Trumpets. You won't find anything like it elsewhere; it is a ritual that takes this form only here, where the art of pottery defines the identity of an entire community.

The natural stage is the San Pietro district, the ancient neighborhood surrounding the Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul, located on the street of the same name in the historic center. Here, through the narrow alleys, the hoarse and shrill sound of clay trumpets announces the festival and accompanies it late into the night.

Three traditions in a single sound

The Festival of the Trumpets is the meeting of three legacies that have coexisted in the area since at least the 16th century:

• the Jewish tradition, evoked by the sound of the shofar, the ritual horn;
• the Christian tradition, linked to the feast of Saint Peter on June 29th;
• the pottery art, the ceramic craftsmanship that has made Grottaglie world-famous.

Pastoral visits by the Archbishops of Taranto as early as the 16th and 17th centuries described the faithful entering the church singing and jumping to the sound of instruments, much like the ancient dancers before the Ark. From that popular devotion, the clay trumpet was born.

The Saint Peter's Trumpet and the act of liberation

The Saint Peter's Trumpet is a clay artifact with apotropaic value: it was not bought, but gifted to esteemed people and friends, or bartered for a basket of figs or other local produce. Master potters would shape them into ever-changing forms. From the eve until the night of June 29th, its dissonant breath cheered the festival and, according to popular belief, warded off debt, illness, and evil spells. Then, in an act of liberation, the trumpets were shattered into shards: only then would silence return, lasting until the following year.

From oblivion to rebirth

The tradition experienced a long hiatus starting in the 1960s, when the Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul was used as an agricultural warehouse. The restoration of the site, begun in 2004, brought the ritual back to life with the involvement of local schools. In 2016, a participatory Foundation dedicated to the festival was established, which today manages its organization together with the Municipality of Grottaglie.

A multisensory experience

Beyond the religious celebration and the breaking ritual, the evening is a journey through live music, potter demonstrations, and itineraries dedicated to traditional ceramics. The district comes alive with open workshops, the scent of street food, and the notes of Salento tradition, in a continuous dialogue between faith, folklore, and craftsmanship that makes Grottaglie, for one night, an open-air theater.