Madonna della Mercede Festival

The patronal feast of Ischia's highest village

Fontana is the highest hamlet in the municipality of Serrara Fontana, on the island of Ischia, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania: a village of white houses clinging to the slopes of Mount Epomeo, nearly five hundred meters above sea level. Every year, at the end of September, this village transforms for the Madonna della Mercede Festival, an event locals simply call "la Sacra," which has marked the rhythm of community life for centuries.

This festival is not a tourist construct; it is the most authentic expression of Fontana's identity, a time when emigrant families return home, houses open their doors, and the narrow streets of the historic center fill with festive lights, songs, and the scent of grape must.

A devotion born from the fear of corsairs

The parish of Santa Maria della Mercede is considered the oldest on the island of Ischia: it was founded in 1364 by Bishop Bartolomeo Bussolario, who added an hospicium to the church to serve as a refuge during Saracen raids. This is no minor detail: the Madonna della Mercede is venerated as the liberator of Christians who fell into slavery, a cult that found fertile ground on an island plagued for centuries by Barbary pirate raids.

The current title was consolidated at the end of the 18th century, and in 1920, the community offered their own gold to crown the wooden statue of the Virgin—an episode still commemorated during the festival days. For the people of Fontana, the Mercede is not just another devotion: she is "the Mother," protector of the village and the collective memory of generations.

The novena, midnight mass, and the procession

The liturgical heart of the festival is the novena, nine days of prayer leading up to September 24th. Each evening, the church fills for the rosary and mass with daily meditations, while the image of the Madonna remains exposed for the veneration of the faithful.

• Exposition of the image and opening of the festivities, mid-September
• Evening novena: rosary, Eucharistic celebration, and preaching
• Midnight mass on the eve of the feast day, commemorating the 1920 coronation
• September 24th: holy masses throughout the day and solemn procession through the village streets
• Brass band, festive lights, and fireworks to close the day

The procession is the most evocative moment: the statue of the Madonna, along with that of Saint Vincent de Paul, travels through the alleys and small squares of Fontana in a route made spectacular by the village's position, suspended between the greenery of Mount Epomeo and the blue of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

New wine, harvest, and popular celebration

September in Fontana is also the month of the grape harvest, and the secular side of the festival naturally intertwines with the agricultural cycle. The blessing of the earth's fruits, the wine festival with traditional costumes, and folk music groups—led by tambourines and tammorre—accompany the religious festivities. It is the perfect opportunity to taste the island's wines, cultivated on steep terraces that are a landscape heritage in their own right, along with typical Ischian products like rabbit "all'ischitana," sausages, and homemade desserts.

Fontana, the starting point for Mount Epomeo

Those arriving for the festival will also discover one of the most characteristic villages of the Campanian islands. From Fontana starts the classic trail leading to the summit of Mount Epomeo (789 m), the island's peak: an hour-and-a-half walk through green tuff, chestnut trees, and vineyards, with a view that on clear days embraces the Gulf of Naples, Capri, and the Phlegraean coast. During the same weeks, nearby Sant'Angelo and other hamlets of Serrara Fontana host their own events, making the municipal territory particularly lively at the end of summer.

Why it's worth attending

The Madonna della Mercede Festival is one of the best opportunities to experience the less "seaside" and more rural side of Ischia: that of the hilly hinterland, ancient parishes, and families reuniting. There are no large stages or tickets to buy: there is a community, a devotion spanning more than six centuries, and a village that, for a few days, shows itself in its truest form.