Saint Roch Festival

A patronal feast with a scent of the sea

In Alì Terme, a town in the Metropolitan City of Messina overlooking the Ionian coast of Sicily, August 16th is the most significant date of the year. It is the day the town pays homage to its patron saint, Saint Roch of Montpellier, with a festival that unites religious devotion with popular and maritime traditions, weaving together ancient rites and community moments that draw both locals and visitors back to the town.

The origins of the cult

The devotion is rooted in a local legend: tradition holds that the cult began centuries ago with the discovery of a small statue of Saint Roch found in a chest washed up on the beach. That wooden effigy, affectionately called «santu Roccu picciriddu», remains the oldest statue of the saint. Notarial documents from the 17th century already mention a place called «san Rocco lo vecchio», indicating that the devotion in Alì dates back at least to the 1600s. The parish church of San Rocco, now the town's mother church, was established as a parish in 1924; the current building was inaugurated in 1956 and still houses the furnishings from the older church.

The day's program

The festival unfolds throughout the entire day of August 16th:

• Morning: The marching band parades through the town streets, followed by three Holy Masses, including those in the chapel of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the church of Blessed Eustochia in the Mena district.
• 11:00 AM: A Solemn Mass is celebrated in the parish church of San Rocco, followed by the characteristic blessing of the dogs, a well-established tradition that links the saint, protector of animals, to the local community's sensitivity.
• 6:30 PM: The procession begins with the venerated statue of the patron saint, winding along the seafront and Via Francesco Crispi. Since 1987, the larger statue, the «santu Roccu ranni», has been carried in procession on a restored 18th-century float.
• Following the procession: A Mass is held in Piazza Beata Maddalena Morano, after which the statue returns to the church and the blessed bread of Saint Roch is distributed to the faithful.
• In the evening: Stalls featuring local products and sweets, musical performances, and fireworks launched over the sea, the iconic image of the festival.

A community gathering

More than just a religious observance, the Saint Roch Festival is the heart of the summer in Alì: the patronal feast marks the moment when the small thermal village in the Messina area gathers around its roots, between the church square, the town center streets, and that Ionian Sea which, according to legend, returned its most cherished effigy to the town.