Saint Anne Patronal Feast

A village festival in the heart of the Terra Brigasca

The Saint Anne Patronal Feast is the most cherished event of the year for Upega, a picturesque hamlet in the municipality of Briga Alta, located in the Province of Cuneo in the heart of southwestern Piedmont. Nestled at an altitude of approximately 1,300 meters, at the confluence of the Negrone, Corvo, and Žnìgë streams and surrounded by the forests of the Upper Tanaro Valley, Upega is one of the most isolated and charming villages in the Ligurian Alps. Every year at the end of July, the small community gathers around its patron saint, Saint Anne, for a day that blends faith, music, and tradition.

Upega and the Terra Brigasca

Upega is part of the so-called Terra Brigasca, a historical-cultural area once linked to the ancient municipality of Briga Marittima (now La Brigue, in France) and divided by the borders drawn after World War II with the 1947 Treaty of Paris. Despite belonging to the Province of Cuneo, the local population preserves the identity of an ethnic-linguistic minority, the Brigasc people, heavily influenced by nearby Liguria. The multi-story stone houses with wooden balconies (the puntìi) and slate roofs (the ciape), the restored communal oven, and traditional dishes like sugéli and turte d' pënas tell the story of an ancient and resilient mountain culture.

Devotion to Saint Anne

The parish church of Upega, an 18th-century building, is dedicated to Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary. The feast falls around July 26th, the Saint's liturgical day, and has been the moment for the entire community to reunite for centuries. Upega once counted about four hundred inhabitants; today, due to mountain depopulation, permanent residents are few, but in summer the village repopulates with vacationers and many emigrants who return specifically for the patronal feast, maintaining a bond with their roots that defies the passage of time.

The festival program

The day of celebration is traditionally divided into several moments:

• Solemn Holy Mass in the parish church of Saint Anne;
• Afternoon procession with the statue of the Saint carried through the village streets;
• Brass band concert, accompanying the festivities;
• Community lunch by reservation, an occasion for conviviality for residents, vacationers, and guests.

The organization is managed by the Pro Loco Upega, which is active throughout the year in promoting the village and Brigasc traditions. Advance booking is required for the lunch via the contacts provided by the Pro Loco.

Why attend

The Saint Anne Feast in Upega is not a mass-tourism event, but an authentic mountain community festival: those who attend discover one of the most genuine villages in the Cuneo area, immersed in a landscape of forests and karst gorges, and breathe in the intimate atmosphere of a tradition passed down through generations. It is an ideal opportunity to combine the discovery of the Upper Tanaro Valley with a moment of true Piedmontese conviviality.