Saint Anthony Abbot Festival in Sutri

The 2025 edition of the thousand-year-old Sutri festival opened on the evening of January 16th in the Basilica Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, with a celebration presided over by Bishop Monsignor Marco Salvi alongside the city's parish priests. The procession with the statue of the Saint crossed the historic center with about 400 participants carrying lit candles, welcomed upon its return by fireworks. During the festival weekend, the two cavalry groups—the Antica in amaranth and the Nuova in white—paraded in pairs on decorated horses along a route of approximately 1,200 meters, repeated several times between the most significant points of the village, from the church of San Francesco to the ancient washhouse, culminating in the blessing of the animals in Piazza del Comune. The banners were then deposited in the homes of the two 'festaroli', which remained open to the public for the eight days of the Ottavario for prayers, sweets, and wine, in the spirit of a tradition that unites the entire community of Sutri and the Viterbo Tuscia region.