Patronal Feast of Saint Nicholas of Bari — Broad Bean Festival

Saint Nicholas and the ancient Broad Bean Festival

On December 6th, Provvidenti — a small village in the province of Campobasso, the second least populated municipality in the entire region — celebrates its patron saint, Saint Nicholas of Bari, with a unique ritual: the Broad Bean Festival. A large pot is set up in the village square where broad beans are brought to a boil; the fire under the cauldron is fueled and managed by the entire community, which relives the festive atmosphere and the ancient ritual in a real competition to see who can boil them first.

A ritual of sharing

Once cooked, the broad beans are distributed to all present; the following morning, the blessed broad beans, accompanied by bread, are offered to residents and visitors. The tradition, whose origins are uncertain, is traced back to a medieval miracle: according to popular legend, during a famine, Saint Nicholas miraculously provided the population with a large quantity of broad beans that appeared in a container.

A village with ancient roots

Provvidenti — whose name derives from its function of "providing" for needs, having once been a grain storage center for the ancient Frentanian city of Gerione — is a village with medieval roots, dominated by the church of Santa Maria Assunta with its stone bell tower from 1380. The Broad Bean Festival is its most heartfelt identity ritual, capable of drawing inhabitants and emigrants to the village in the heart of winter.