Festivities in Honor of San Giuseppe da Leonessa and Santa Giusta

A patronal feast uniting two villages

In the heart of the upper Velino valley, at the foot of the Reatini Mountains, the small villages of Favischio and Cerqua are part of the Municipality of Posta, in the province of Rieti, in northern Lazio. Every summer, around mid-August, the two communities come together for the Festivities in honor of San Giuseppe da Leonessa and Santa Giusta: a patronal feast that is not just a devotional event, but a moment when the town repopulates and emigrant families return to their roots.

The patron saints and the bond with Sabina

San Giuseppe da Leonessa, a Capuchin friar born in 1556 in nearby Leonessa, is one of the most beloved figures in the Rieti area: his devotion spans the entire mountain range between Lazio, Umbria, and Abruzzo. He is joined here by the cult of Santa Giusta, deeply rooted in local tradition. The presence of both patrons explains the structure of the feast, which is spread over two main days and two distinct locations, united by the same calendar and the same organizing committee.

Devotion, procession, and blessed bread

The religious heart of the feast is the solemn mass, celebrated outdoors in the Piazzetta del Fiume, followed by the procession with the statues of the saints carried on shoulders through the village streets, accompanied by a marching band. At the end, blessed bread is distributed to the faithful, an ancient gesture of sharing that concludes the liturgical moment and opens the convivial one. The day begins early in the morning with the traditional wake-up call and blank shots, according to a custom common to many patronal feasts in the central Apennines.

The tug-of-war Palio and traditional games

The afternoon is dedicated to traditional games, which represent the most participatory soul of the event. The most anticipated moment is the tug-of-war Palio, which pits the teams of the two villages against each other in a friendly but highly competitive challenge: in 2025, the victory went to Cerqua. Alongside the Palio, there are tournaments and traditional games, including:

• the bachelors vs. married men football tournament, held at the Posta sports field;
• the rooster shoot and other skill games for adults and children;
• evening award ceremonies with the participation of all teams.

Open cellars, cuisine, and live music

One of the most successful innovations of recent editions is the open cellars formula: local families open their cellars and spaces to visitors, offering local specialties, wine, and folk music along a route winding through the alleys. In the evening, people dine outdoors with traditional Rieti dishes and dance until late at night with local bands and orchestras; the finale is entrusted to fireworks, which illuminate the valley and close the festivities.

Memory and community: the Super8 Festival

Alongside the festive side, a section dedicated to collective memory has been added in recent years: the Super8 Festival «Le Nostre Radici», an evening screening of vintage films shot in the village, which brings back images of festivals, faces, and trades from decades ago. It is a project that perfectly captures the spirit of the initiative: keeping together the celebration and the history of a mountain territory marked by depopulation, where every August the number of people multiplies.

Why it is worth the trip

Those arriving from outside will find an authentic, free, and unfiltered festival in a setting of great natural beauty: we are within the area of the Monti Simbruini Regional Natural Park and a few kilometers from the trails of Terminillo and the springs of the Velino. It is an opportunity to discover an off-the-beaten-path corner of the Lazio Region, where the mountain Sabina preserves a social fabric made of village associations, home cooking, and spontaneous hospitality. The organization is entrusted to the Associazione Il Castagno, a social promotion entity active in the two villages.