Patronal Feast of Maria Santissima del Bosco

The Patronal Feast of Spinazzola

In the heart of summer, the town of Spinazzola, in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani (Puglia), celebrates its Patronal Feast in honor of Maria Santissima del Bosco, the city's protector. Three days—traditionally August 12th, 13th, and 14th—that weave together faith, music, and community, drawing locals, returning emigrants, and visitors from the nearby Alta Murgia towns to Piazza Plebiscito.

The Madonna del Bosco and her Sanctuary

The cult is tied to an ancient Marian icon, a 16th-century painting that, according to tradition, was discovered by a woodcutter inside a tree trunk: hence the name Madonna del Bosco (Our Lady of the Woods). The Sanctuary that houses it stands in the Spinazzola countryside, built between the 16th and 17th centuries on land donated by the Dukes of Calabritto. Every year, on the Tuesday after Easter Sunday, the image is carried in procession from the Sanctuary to the Mother Church of San Pietro, where it remains to bless the city throughout the summer, only to return to the Sanctuary during the August days, at the end of the patronal festivities.

A program between the sacred and the spectacular

The religious heart of the feast is the solemn procession that, following the evening Mass, winds through the main streets and squares of the historic center. Surrounding the liturgical rites is a rich calendar of shows hosted in Piazza Plebiscito: concerts by Italian music artists, the unmissable performance of the Gran Complesso Bandistico Città di Spinazzola, and traditional moments of popular gathering. The organization is entrusted to the Maria SS. del Bosco Patronal Feast Committee, which officially presents the program to the citizenry each year.

An identity-defining event

For Spinazzola, the Madonna del Bosco feast represents much more than a religious recurrence: it is the moment when the community gathers, rediscovers its roots, and experiences a fragment of Puglian popular tradition. The festival, free and open-air, combines Marian devotion with a taste for great live music, in a setting that makes the Alta Murgia of the BAT province an authentic destination for the Ferragosto holiday.