San Gaetano Festival

The patronal feast of Rinella

The San Gaetano Festival is the patronal feast of Rinella, a small and charming seaside hamlet in the municipality of Leni, on the island of Salina, in the Aeolian archipelago, province of Messina. Every year, around August 6th and 7th, the village gathers around its patron saint for days of deep devotion and popular celebration, while the island enjoys the peak of the Aeolian summer.

San Gaetano, the saint of providence and fishermen

San Gaetano, known as the "saint of providence," is venerated in Rinella as the patron of the village and protector of fishermen. The cult arrived here in the 18th century, when the hamlet began to be populated by fishing families. Rinella's boats traded the products of Leni and the Val di Chiesa directly with the Campanian coast; it was through these commercial ties with Neapolitan merchants that the community encountered the devotion to San Gaetano, which is widespread in Naples, and adopted it as their own.

The Church of San Gaetano

The saint is housed in the Church of San Gaetano, the current building of which dates back to 1853. However, the presence of the cult is much older: Bishop Beamonte already mentioned a church of San Gaetano during his visit to Salina in 1736, and some manuscripts trace an oratory dedicated to the saint back to 1602, which would make Rinella the site of one of the oldest churches on the island.

The sea procession

The heart of the festival is the sea procession on August 7th: the statue of San Gaetano is taken out onto the water aboard the fishermen's boats in an aquatic procession that is truly hard to see anywhere else. It is the most authentic sign of the deep bond between the fishing community and their patron saint. The sea procession is accompanied by a procession of the statue through the village streets and various Eucharistic celebrations.

Salina and the Aeolian Islands in celebration

The San Gaetano Festival is part of the rich calendar of patronal feasts and traditions that bring the island of Salina to life during the summer, alongside other hamlets and municipalities of the archipelago. Experiencing this festival means discovering an authentic Aeolian side, made of sea, faith, and community, far from mass tourism circuits.