Saint Margaret Festival

A patronal festival with an ancient heart

The Saint Margaret Festival is the most significant religious and cultural event in Licodia Eubea, a small village in the Iblei Mountains in the province of Catania, Sicily. Dedicated to Saint Margaret of Antioch, virgin and martyr, the festival gathers the entire community every July 20th around its patron, revered by locals as the «patruna di lu regnu» (patroness of the kingdom).

Devotion and history

The cult of Saint Margaret has deep historical roots: the Mother Church dedicated to her was built before the 16th century and became the town's main church in 1625. Despite damage from the terrible 1693 Val di Noto earthquake, the church preserved its precious 16th-century wooden statue of the Saint, the work of an unknown Sicilian artist, and was reconsecrated in 1738. Saint Margaret became the principal patron of Licodia Eubea in 1905, and it is this same statue that is carried in procession today.

The month of July and preparatory rites

The festivities are not limited to a single day: throughout the month of July, a dense program of popular devotion takes place. Key moments include:

• the first exhibition of the relic, the Saint's skullcap;
• the novena with thematic days dedicated to reconciliation, family, the sick, and emigrants;
• the evocative pilgrimage to the «Pidata» in the Masera district, a place dear to the locals where a votive shrine linked to an ancient legend stands.

The day of the solemnity

On July 20th, the day of the solemnity, the morning and evening Eucharistic celebrations mark the day. In the evening, the statue of the Saint leaves the Mother Church and is carried in procession through the town's streets, accompanied by a large crowd of faithful. It is customary during the procession to offer the patroness natural gifts — animals, plants, and fruit — as a thanksgiving for the year's harvest, in a gesture that merges Christian faith with the ancient peasant civilization of the Iblei.

Shows and fireworks

Alongside the religious program, the Licodia Eubea patronal festival offers cultural events, shows, and folklore that enliven the village squares. The grand finale is provided by fireworks launched from the evocative Castello Santapau, illuminating the Iblei sky and sealing a day of intense popular participation.