Madonna della Pace Festival

A countryside festival in the heart of Puglia

The Madonna della Pace Festival is celebrated every summer in the Chiesa Nuova district, a rural area in the hinterland of Polignano a Mare, in the province of Bari, Puglia. Around the small country church dedicated to the Madonna della Pace, a community rooted in the local agricultural tradition gathers: farmers, historic families of the district, and vacationers meet for a few days of celebration that unite the religious dimension with popular festivities.

Devotion and procession

The heart of the festival remains deeply religious. The program includes solemn liturgical celebrations in honor of the Madonna della Pace, with Holy Masses marking the days, and above all the procession of the sacred image carried on shoulders along the streets of the district, accompanied by the faithful, the band, and the illuminations. It is the most attended and moving moment, where the community renews its bond with the protector of the countryside.

Music, lights, and conviviality

Alongside the religious rites, the festival offers the typical atmosphere of Apulian village fairs. The streets of the district light up with artisan illuminations, while the square in front of the church hosts brass band concerts and evenings of folk music. There is no shortage of food stalls featuring local flavors and the conviviality that enlivens summer evenings, culminating in the fireworks display that closes the festivities, illuminating the sky over the Polignano countryside.

An authentic corner of Polignano

Far from the crowds of the historic center overlooking the sea, the Madonna della Pace Festival showcases the most intimate and rural side of Polignano a Mare. It is an opportunity to discover the Apulian hinterland, made of trulli, dry-stone walls, olive groves, and small districts where traditions are passed down from generation to generation. Organized by the Madonna della Pace Festival Committee with the involvement of the parish and the inhabitants of the Chiesa Nuova district, the festival is one of the highlights of the Polignano summer and represents a precious piece of the municipality's intangible heritage.