Santa Maria d'Attoli Fair and Festival

A festival uniting faith, land, and community

The Santa Maria d'Attoli Fair and Festival is one of the most cherished events in the traditional calendar of Ginosa, in the Province of Taranto, in the heart of the Ionian Puglia region. Celebrated annually in late April, around the last Sunday of the month, it is dedicated to the Virgin, venerated under the title of Santa Maria d'Attoli (or Dattoli), protector of the fields, and to Saint Joseph, patron saint of workers. It is the most authentic expression of the devotion of the working people of Ginosa, rooted in a time marked by the slow rhythm of the seasons.

The cavalcade: the heart of the festival

The most spectacular moment is the cavalcade, which takes place on Saturday. Following Holy Mass and the blessing of the fields at the rural chapel of Santa Maria d'Attoli, the sacred image of the Madonna is placed upon a triumphal float pulled by horses and carried in procession along the main street to the town center. It is preceded by a procession of about eighty horses with their riders: an ancient scene of devotion and rural pride renewed from generation to generation.

The religious and secular program

The festivities open on Friday evening with the procession of the paintings depicting Saint Joseph and the Virgin. Saturday is dedicated to the cavalcade and the Madonna's procession; Sunday, the last of the month, features the solemn procession of Saint Joseph starting from the Church of Saint Joseph. The rites are accompanied by the Bassa Musica (traditional street band) and the Ginosa City Concert Band, evening concerts in the square, and traditional fireworks that light up the town's sky.

The street market

The celebration concludes with the fair, a historic market that fills the streets of Ginosa on the Monday following the festival Sunday. The Municipality of Ginosa publishes a public notice each year for the assignment of stalls: among them, visitors can find food and local products, hardware, housewares, toys, and all kinds of goods, in an atmosphere of popular celebration that attracts visitors from across the Ionian area.

A rural tradition

The roots of the festival lie in the local rural culture: the procession toward the Santa Maria d'Attoli chapel has always been linked to the life of the fields and, according to popular memory, to propitiatory rites to invoke rain during periods of drought. Even today, the Santa Maria d'Attoli Fair and Festival gives the Ginosa community a profound sense of belonging, built on shared faith and roots that connect the past to the present.