Most Holy Crucifix Festival (Tri di Maju)

Bisacquino's most beloved festival

In Bisacquino, a town in the western Madonie mountains in the province of Palermo (Sicily), May 3rd is no ordinary date: it is the "Tri di Maju" festival, the celebration of the Most Holy Crucifix, the most deeply felt religious appointment for the community. For centuries, the people of Bisacquino have returned to their hometown for this day, no matter where they are, because the Crucifix festival is the strongest bond with their roots.

The vara by Giuseppe Bellacera

The heart of the festival is the wooden vara, a work by local artisan Giuseppe Bellacera, created between 1792 and 1793. It is a monumental Baroque artifact, about six meters high and weighing around two tons, depicting the Crucified Christ. Restored and blessed in 2016, the vara is kept in the Church of San Giovanni Battista and, on the day of the festival, becomes the focal point around which the entire town revolves.

The thirty-two statues of the Saints

The most evocative tradition is that of the thirty-two statues of the Saints: on the afternoon of May 3rd, the simulacra, festively adorned and coming from the churches of Bisacquino's various districts, are gathered in the Mother Church to pay homage to Christ on the vara. This custom was already documented in the 18th century, when the Saints formed a crown around the Crucifix. At the end of the procession, in front of the Mother Church, the statues of Saint Joseph and the Madonna join the Most Holy Crucifix in the famous "bowing of the Saints."

The solemn procession

The day follows an unchanging ritual: morning celebrations and High Mass, the afternoon gathering of the simulacra in the Mother Church, and finally, in the evening, the grand procession that traverses the streets of the historic center. The vara, preceded by the statues of the Saints and the figures of the Madonna and Saint Joseph, slowly makes its way through the town until the final farewell to the Crucifix.

A ritual of identity in the Madonie

The Most Holy Crucifix Festival is not just a religious event, but the moment when Bisacquino rediscovers its collective identity. For visitors, it is an opportunity to discover an authentic village in the Palermo hinterland, far from mass tourism circuits, and to witness one of the most characteristic patronal festivals of inland Sicily, where popular faith, Baroque art, and community tradition merge into a single day.