Grande Tirata del Carro of Mirabella Eclano

A 25-meter-tall straw obelisk

The Grande Tirata del Carro is the religious and popular festival that defines Mirabella Eclano, a town in the province of Avellino, in the heart of Irpinia, Campania. At the center of the celebration is the Carro: a wooden obelisk about twenty-five meters high, formed by twenty-three overlapping beams and divided into seven tiers that narrow as they rise, from the first six-meter level to the last of just one and a half meters. The entire structure is covered in straw, hand-woven and crafted by local artisans—a weeks-long project that concludes with the statue of the Madonna Addolorata placed at the summit.

The pull: oxen, hemp ropes, and raw strength

On the Saturday preceding the third Sunday of September, the chariot leaves the Santa Caterina area and is pulled to the town center by six pairs of oxen, assisted by a tractor and, most importantly, hundreds of men and women. The funaioli (rope-pullers) handle thirty-eight hemp ropes, each fifty meters long: they pull, release, or brake to control the obelisk's movement, as the risk of imbalance is real and every meter must be hard-won. The procession ends in front of the church of the Madonna Addolorata, where the animals receive a blessing. Each year, the event draws around twenty thousand people, including residents, returning emigrants, and visitors.

The Settembre Eclanese, a full month of festivities

The pull is not an isolated event; it is the highlight of the Settembre Eclanese, a calendar of civil and religious appointments that spans from late August to late September in Mirabella Eclano. The program alternates liturgical rites in honor of Maria Santissima Addolorata, band concerts, musical and comedy shows in the squares, food festivals dedicated to the products of the Calore Valley, sports tournaments, and the Notte Bianca (White Night) that enlivens the evening of the pull. The cycle concludes the following week with the Festa dell'Ottava, featuring a solemn procession and a fireworks display.

A century-old tradition

The chariot has accompanied the feast of the Addolorata for over a century: 2026 marks one hundred and three years of consecutive pulls. Scholars view the annual assembly and disassembly of the structure as a cycle of death and rebirth rooted in the agrarian world: grain and straw, humble materials of peasant labor, become a votive offering. Similar rituals survive in some neighboring Irpinian towns, starting with Fontanarosa, but the Eclanese one remains the most impressive in size and participation.

The Obelisk Museum

Since 2005, the San Francesco monumental complex has housed a museum dedicated to the obelisk, with parts of the structure on display and the history of the event reconstructed step by step. It is a useful stop to understand, even out of season, how the chariot is created and why the community considers it their core identity symbol.

The 2026 edition and safety concerns

In the summer of 2026, the pull became the center of a heated local debate: some parts of the structure, particularly the old dome and the final tiers, were deemed not fully safe, leading to the resignation of the long-standing artistic director. Following a summit at the Prefecture of Avellino between Prefect Rossana Riflesso and Mayor Giancarlo Ruggiero, the Municipality entrusted local carpenters with the task of securing the obelisk, with assembly scheduled to begin in late August. The date for the pull remains Saturday, September 19, 2026, while the rest of the Settembre Eclanese program continues as planned.

What to expect from the day of the pull

• The preparation and dressing of the obelisk in the preceding days, visible to anyone passing through Santa Caterina.
• The departure, with the oxen yoked and the ropes taut along the entire route.
• The passage through the narrow streets of the center, where every maneuver requires millimeter precision.
• The blessing of the animals in front of the church of the Addolorata.
• The food stalls and the Notte Bianca that transform the town into a great party until dawn.