Holy Week and L'Incontru

A centuries-old tradition in the Belìce Valley

The Holy Week in Menfi, a town in the province of Agrigento, Sicily, is one of the most deeply felt religious and popular events in the region. Its rites are rooted in ancient folk customs, where the Christian celebration of Easter intertwines with remote agrarian rites of fertility and spring rebirth, a legacy of the farming culture of the Belìce Valley. The most anticipated moment, L'Incontru, has been renewed for over three hundred years on Easter Sunday.

Holy Thursday and the lavureddi

The rites begin in the days leading up to Easter. On Holy Thursday, the 'Santi Sepolcri' (Holy Sepulchres) are set up at the foot of the altars in Menfi's churches, adorned with plants, flowers, and the characteristic lavureddi: wheat and legume sprouts grown in the dark, ancient symbols of rebirth that recall the gardens of Adonis. Good Friday is dedicated to the solemn procession featuring the deposition of Christ from the cross, placed in a precious wood and glass urn, followed by the funeral march with the statue of the Madonna.

L'Incontru: the heart of the festival

Easter Sunday is the day of the most emotional rite. From the morning, farmers decorate the statues of the Madonna, the Risen Christ, and the Archangel Saint Michael with the first fruits of the earth: fava beans, violets, wheat stalks, barley, and flowers of all kinds, symbols of the awakening of vegetation. At noon, along Via della Vittoria, the statues of the Archangel Saint Michael and the Risen Christ are carried on shoulders, while the Madonna, wrapped in her black mourning mantle, waits in front of the Annunziata church after leaving the Addolorata church. Amidst the crowd shouting "largo, largo" (make way), Saint Michael runs towards the Virgin to announce the resurrection of her Son. The Madonna, initially incredulous, is convinced by the Archangel who brings her the message three times: she then rushes towards her Son. The black mantle falls, the festive garment appears, the bells ring out, firecrackers explode, doves are released into the sky, and the brass band accompanies the final embrace.

A community celebration

The Incontru of Menfi attracts crowds of faithful and visitors every year, as also evidenced by the 2026 Easter chronicles. It is a moment of strong collective identity for the Municipality of Menfi and the entire Belìce Valley, where the sacred and the popular merge into a performance charged with emotion and participation.

• Municipality: Menfi (Province of Agrigento, Sicily)
• Location of the rites: historic center and Via della Vittoria
• Highlight: L'Incontru, Easter Sunday at noon
• Tradition: over 300 years