Saints Cosmas and Damian Festival (with the Foconi)

One of the most heartfelt patronal festivals in the Sabina region

The Saints Cosmas and Damian Festival is the defining annual event for the village of Longone Sabino, in the province of Rieti, in the heart of the Lazio Sabina. Dedicated to the two anargyroi physician saints, the town's protectors, the celebration traditionally takes place around September 26th, combining a deeply moving religious program with secular festivities that bring the squares to life through the weekend.

It is a landmark event for the village: it draws back former residents, especially those living in Rome, and for a few days restores the lively atmosphere of the past, with market stalls, festive lighting, and families reunited.

The "foconi": the heart of the tradition

The element that makes this festival unique is the foconi: hundreds of large bundles of dry broom prepared in the weeks prior and placed along the ridges of the mountains surrounding Longone Sabino. On the evening of September 26th, at sunset, the village lights are turned off and the candlelight procession departs from the church dedicated to the two saints. As the parade winds through the village streets, the foconi are lit almost simultaneously on the heights: the night landscape transforms into a crown of crackling fires, evoking the pyre to which, according to hagiographic tradition, Cosmas and Damian were condemned.

The procession accompanies the statue of the Saints to the small rural sanctuary near the cemetery, escorted by a brass band and, by tradition, by young girls dressed in white. It is one of the most photographed moments of popular devotion in the entire Rieti province.

The Pantasima and the secular program

Alongside the religious observances—the preparatory novena, solemn masses, and the singing of the martyrs' hymn performed by a four-voice choir in Latin—is the secular program, organized by the Pro Loco of Longone Sabino together with the Municipality and the festival committees.

• Pantasima Dance: the traditional papier-mâché puppet, loaded with fireworks, which dances among the crowd and is one of the symbols of festivals in Central Italy.
• Concerts in the square with ballroom orchestras and folk music groups.
• Concert by the marching band and fanfares.
• Closing fireworks display.
• Civic and commemorative events, with the participation of local associations and the Red Cross.

What to expect

First-time visitors will find an authentic festival, not manufactured for tourism: people eat in homes and at refreshment points set up by volunteers, watch the procession in silence, and wait with the rest of the village for the moment the mountain lights up. We recommend visiting on the evening of September 26th, the most intense moment; those who stay the following day will find a more festive atmosphere, with the band, music, and dancing.

Longone Sabino and the Rieti Sabina

Longone Sabino is a small municipality in Lazio located in a landscape of hills, olive groves, and scattered hamlets, a short distance from Lake Salto and the city of Rieti. The village preserves a medieval layout and a network of smaller hamlets that make it a pleasant destination even outside of festival days. The devotion to Saints Cosmas and Damian, widespread throughout Central and Southern Italy, finds one of its most scenic expressions here, thanks to the use of fire as a ritual sign—a practice rooted in ancient farming traditions linked to the end of summer and the broom plant, typical of these slopes.