Sant'Antoni Festival in Versutta

The festival that opens the year

While Friuli is still wrapped in the January frost, in Versutta — a small hamlet of Casarsa della Delizia, near San Giovanni — the first festival of the year lights up: the Sagra di Sant'Antoni, dedicated to Saint Anthony Abbot. It is a first that the community is proud of: the festival is indeed traditionally the first in the province of Pordenone, and symbolically marks the start of the Friulian festival calendar.

Saint Anthony Abbot and the Purcit

Saint Anthony Abbot is the patron saint of butchers and the protector of domestic animals, represented since traditional iconography with a pig. It is no coincidence that the figure of the Purcit di Sant'Antoni — the little pig — features prominently on the festival's poster and is the joyful symbol of a festival deeply linked to the rural world and its winter rites. A devotional and popular tradition that continues to live on intact in Versutta.

Warm food, music, and tradition

The festival spans several weeks, with the kitchen open every evening from 7 PM, always indoors and heated: among the specialties are gnocchi with meat ragu, grilled meats, sausages, and the famous 'panino bomba', accompanied by beer and wines. The program alternates between a briscola card game competition and a darts tournament, music and dance nights, live concerts, the Versuta Treffen motorcycle meeting, the Country Festival, and a fun run. Organized by the association La Beorcja together with Par San Zuan, it is a festival that warms the winter with conviviality and tradition.